Hey folks, and welcome to chapter 12 of M.I.B. got another long one here for ya, albeit, not as long as last time. Either way, let's get on with the show, picking up back at the fight with Midou.
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Disclaimer: Acolyte had been stuck in this strange place for a few weeks now, and couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. It felt as if he had done this before, and that made his head hurt. He wondered if this was a dream.
Suddenly, Mike appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Morning, Mr. Acolyte."
"Oh, hey Mike," he replied, not really paying attention.
"You mind if I ask you something?" Acolyte remained silent, Giving Mike the go ahead. "You see, my mother is very sick, and I was wondering if I could have the week off to visit her."
"Sorry, we have a very busy schedule this week. I can't allow that." It looked like Mike was about to reply, the entire world dimmed, and everything froze. "Huh?"
From behind Acolyte, that spirit that brought him to this place appeared. "Come with me, we have things to discuss." And with that, the world darkened.
/
Chapter 12: ConfessionsAll was silent as everyone stared at Naruto's decapitated head. They were shocked, to say the least. They had never expected any of them to die, least of all Naruto. He couldn't possibly be dead.
Hesitantly, Mizore shakily bent down, everyone watching, as she grasped Naruto's head. She held it in front of her, just staring at it. 'This is a dream,' she thought to herself. 'No, a nightmare. There's no way he could be…' she didn't want to even think the word. But, she knew it was no use to convince herself otherwise. Tears slowly started to leak from her eyes as she fell to her knees. She clutched the head to her chest, not wanting to let the last piece her best friend go, afraid that he would become just a distant memory. 'He's dead.'
Everyone stared at the girl with sympathy, trying to deal with their own emotions. Moka knew what it felt to lose people you care about, especially when she almost lost Tsukune. It was hard, but at the time, she knew that there was a chance for the boy to pull through. There was no way you could come back from this.
While Yukari and Kurumu never particularly liked the boy, they never wanted him to die. He was a part of their club, and had an obvious effect on their friends. They could only imagine how those closer to him were doing; what they were experiencing.
Gin also knew what it meant to lose those close to you. A year ago, his whole club had been destroyed at the hands of Kuyou and his minions, leaving him to sift through the ashes alone, others having gotten out before it was too late. The now headless blonde had helped him avenge his friends, even if he was willing to let it go. Yeah, he would miss the blonde.
Besides Mizore, Tsukune was probably fairing the worst of anybody. Deep down, he couldn't help but feel that this was his fault. His yell had caused Naruto to become distracted. His blood was partially on his hands. He had caused one of his friends to become an emotional wreck.
Tears built up around the corners of his eyes; tears he refused to shed until this was over. He would make the monster responsible for the death of his friend pay, one way or another. Faster than anyone thought he could move, Tsukune ran towards Moka. Before anyone could react, he grasped her rosary, disengaging it from the chain with a 'click'.
A familiar power was unleashed, stirring up dust and causing the unstable building to tremble. It held, however, as the dust cleared to show Moka in her true vampire form. She turned to the recently forgotten Midou, who had regained some of his lost energy. She just glared at him with her red eyes and sneered. "Do you really think you stand a chance? A lowlife like yourself, especially in the condition you are in. I don't know if I should admire your resolve and bravery, or pity your stupidity."
Surprisingly, Midou just grinned. He slowly walked toward the wall as he spoke. "You know, people with superiority like yours really pisses me off. You think you have no weakness. You think you're invincible. You refuse to give hybrids like us a second chance when you see us and find out what we are. It's like we don't pose any sort of threat."
Midou chuckled some more, causing everyone but Mizore to regard him with confusion. Had he gone crazy? What was he planning? Gin had moved to Mizore's side, making sure she was okay. She was still crying, still holding Naruto's head. It caused the blonde to feel terrible. Some may wonder why he hadn't said anything if he was still alive. Now, to understand his, you have to step into Naruto's shoes. Try having your head cut off and start speaking. You probably couldn't due to the fact that the shock to your system is too great. This is what had happened to Naruto.
As much as the boy wanted to scream and shout to everyone that he was fine, that nobody should worry, he just couldn't. His mind wouldn't let him. Kyuubi was helping him as best he could, but it just wasn't enough. However, seeing his best friend like she was, it caused something inside him to snap.
It was with pure willpower that Naruto managed to get a few words out. "M-… Mizore-chan. It's okay." Now, as you might imagine, having a 'dead' head speak into your chest can come as quite a shock. That was no different here, as Mizore gave a slight 'eep' and dropped the head, causing it to roil a few feet across the ground as she quickly scurried a few feet back on he hands. Gin also jumped in fright, shocked by Mizore's actions and the seemingly disembodied, muffled voice.
"G-Gin-senpai, d-did Naruto's h-head j-j-just… t-talk?" Gin just silently nodded his head, not quite sure if he could form a coherent statement at the moment. The two just stared at the head, wide-eyed.
Naruto stared blankly at the two as they both regarded him, unmoving. When he blinked, it caused both of them to jump. " Umm, no offense or anything, but could one of you, I don't know… pick me up or something? The ground isn't exactly all that comfortable." Still not exactly sure what was going on, Mizore quickly yet cautiously crawled across the ground and once again picked up the head, not wanting to anger what could be a vengeful spirit. Eyes still wide and directed on her friend, she didn't notice as Gin still stood in his original spot, not daring to move until told, both from a mixture of confusion and fear of what the head may do if he somehow displeased it.
"N-Naruto-kun?" she asked, eyes watering up again, not sure if she was going crazy or not. Naruto just gave a light, half-hearted chuckle.
"Hey, I told you I was immortal, didn't I?" Mizore just let a few more tears fall before giving a smile.
"Naruto-kun!" with that, she once again crushed him into her breasts.
'Soft,' was the only thing he could think, somehow blushing despite the current lack of blood flow to his head. As much as he secretly wanted to stay like this, it wasn't the time. He shook his… well, his head, in order to get the purple-haired girls attention. "Mizore-chan, you need to go and help the others. Leave me here." He could see she was about to protest, but he quickly cut her off. "Please don't argue with me. I'll be fine. Trust me." he ended with a grin, causing all her objections to die in her throat.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. Come on, Gin-senpai." With that, she set Naruto's head down and stood up, Gin following as he was finally shaken out of his stupor, giving a glance back to Naruto before following the girl as she went to her friends. Naruto just sighed.
Suddenly he realized something that would have caused him to smack himself if he had arms. "Now, why did I do that? Crap, now I have to get over to my body the hard way." And with that, Naruto started to roll his head towards Midou, the last known position of his body, grumbling all the way.
Meanwhile, said monster had finally reached the wall, which he used to help prop himself up. More importantly, he reached a rather unassuming and recently overlooked valve. "You see, your out look is all wrong. Anti-thesis knows this, that's why I joined." The name caused Tsukune to growl. Only Midou noticed as Mizore and Gin joined their friend's ranks. "You see, they understand all monsters. They see humans as the threats they are. They understand that coexistence is pointless. And they understand that us hybrids are the best chance as a solution. They see that we are strong." He chuckled some more. "True, we may not be much of a match for S-rank monsters in terms of sheer strength or speed, but what we have is just as powerful. More importantly, it is what we lack. You see, we hybrids have no true or common weakness. We just have ourselves!"
And with the end of his little speech, Midou destroyed the valve. At first, nothing happened. Then, the sound of little piece of rust and metal hitting the ground made itself apparent. Before long, a ringing sound was going off and it was almost like it was storming inside the building. It soon became obvious what had happened as Moka collapsed, all her power seemingly drained from her. Midou had triggered the sprinkler system.
Moka laid on the floor, struggling to get up, to move, anything really. But, as it was, she could do nothing but glare at the hybrid as she squirmed around. Even after the water stopped falling, there was little she could do with all of her power taken away. Midou just continued to chuckle as he pushed off the wall and started shuffling towards the downed girl.
"You see? A weakness such as yours is an unsightly thing, one that humans can easily take advantage of. You all have common weaknesses amongst your species. Hybrids don't. We are an improvement to monsters everywhere! We are the harbingers of a new age of youkai supremacy! You can do nothing to change that. You can't stop natural selection." Just as Midou got five feet in front of Moka, he was stopped by a blockade of Yukari, Kurumu, and Tsukune. Gin and Mizore were tending to the girl, trying to help her get back on her feet in any way possible.
The badly burnt and injured hybrid stared at the three with a mixture of confusion and anger. Before he could tell them to move, the human of the group spoke up. "You're wrong. A plan like yours will never work." Tsukune looked up, a fire burning in his eyes as he matched Midou's gaze. "Before I met anyone here, I never really believed in monsters. Then, when I came here, I thought that I would be done for. I thought that you all would want to kill me the moment you found out I was human. I never imagined that my first real friends would actually be monsters." Tsukune started to tear up a bit as everyone looked at him, captivated by his speech. Kurumu put a hand on the boys shoulder as he continued. "I realize now that everything that I had been told about monsters is a lie. They're actually more human then some people I know. And I know that most monster races would never let you accomplish your sick plan. They will do whatever it takes to prove you wrong!"
There was silence as the boy finished, tears freely running down his face. Then, Midou spoke. "Touching, now get out of my way. After I kill the vampire and the rest of your little friends, I may consider letting you live, but only if you can understand your place in the world. Now move!" it was obvious that the hybrid was getting more annoyed by the second, but the three refused to move.
"What makes you think you can win? Last time I checked, we had five people and you're all alone. Even with our heavy hitters out of the way, I'm pretty sure we can take you," said Kurumu, staring at Midou. The bastard had hurt two of her friends, and now he thought he could get away with it? Hell no!
Yukari was quick to agree with the blue-haired girl. "Yeah! You're at a disadvantage. You would be better off giving up!"
Midou just grinned, before letting out a low, continuous whistle. It lasted for about seven seconds before he stopped. Suddenly, like times previous, seven more people emerged from the thick shadows. They quickly blindsided Kurumu, Yukari, and even Gin before they knew what was happening. "You might want to re-check your math. Anti-thesis thought ahead and knew something like this would happen. You might want to remember that. Then again, I doubt any of you will live long enough."
The hybrid moved to smack Tsukune out of the way, but was stopped as a sharpened icicle imbedded itself into his shoulder. He grunted as he grasped his latest injury and pulled the ice out, revealing what looked like a crystalline kunai covered in his blood. He tossed the object off to the side, almost hitting Naruto's head on his continuous roll towards the monster. Naruto, looked at the ice, then back the way he came. He gave an unseen grin as a plan formed in his head.
Meanwhile, Midou looked to the thrower of the offending object, only to see Mizore standing a little ways behind Tsukune, ice claws out. The purple-haired girl stepped forward, standing to the left of her human friend as she looked to the monster in front of her with barely restrained anger. "I won't let you harm another one of my friends. You won't win." Tsukune shivered a bit at the girl's voice.
Before he could speak up, Midou moved. Faster than anyone thought he could in his current state, he smacked the yuki onna across the room. Naruto looked up from his work as he heard Mizore's grunt of pain and saw her skidding across the room. He growled as he looked to Midou. 'Hey, Kyuubi! Any time now!'
'Yeah yeah. You're the one who wanted as few people to see this as possible.'
Midou once again regarded Tsukune. "Now that no one is left to defend you, I can finish this. You had your chance to live, and you chose not to. Time to die!" now, Tsukune would have been mad as another of his friends was injured trying to help him, maybe even scared as he thought he was going to die. Well, he was both of those, as he saw something that confused him, smothering his other feelings.
Just as Midou pulled back, he was stopped as something stabbed into his side, causing him to stumble away. He was then punched in the jaw, kneed in the stomach, and elbowed in the back of the head as he crumpled under the blows. As he fell to the floor, he shakily looked up to see who had caused him to once again become distracted from Tsukune.
"What now?" what he saw caused him to become slightly frightened. "W-what the fuck?" he never expected to see Naruto's headless body standing over him, sword in hand, as it seemed to look down at him. (1)
"Bastard, I'll teach you to fuck with me and my friends!" Midou was then assaulted by the head of the blonde. Naruto started snapping and biting at him, before latching onto his human elbow with his teeth. Midou gasped in pain before smacking the head away along with the body.
At this time, Moka had finally gotten into a sitting position and watched the display with a morbid fascination. It was safe to say that she had never seen that before. She was shaken from her thoughts as she felt a dark power emanating from nearby. She turned and saw Tsukune.
The brunette couldn't stand it anymore. His friends were doing all he could while he just sat there, helpless. Hell, even Naruto was helping, and he was fucking decapitated! He hated being so fucking weak! He wanted to help, but couldn't. It was just like with Kuyou. Suddenly, his neck started to hurt. Really, it was more of a strong burn. Before he could lament on this fact further, he blacked out.
While this was happening, Naruto was now working on bringing himself back together. "Hey dipshit! I'm right in front of you! Ah, fuck!" and for the third time, Naruto's body had kicked his head even further away from it. The blonde was now sporting a black eye, a bloodied nose, and a busted lip to go along with his decapitated status. Finally, his hands got a grasp on him and held him to his neck, where Kyuubi started to reattach him. "You did that on purpose."
'Maybe I did. But can you blame me? You hardly ever visit and there isn't exactly much to do in here.'
'Whatever.' With that, Naruto began to walk off to finish the plan he had to finish the hybrid off once and for all. It was within a few steps that he realized something was wrong. 'You asshole.'
'What did I do?'
'My heads on backwards.'There was silence for a little bit. Then, 'Well what do you expect? It's not like I can see or anything.'
"Stupid fuckin' piece a'…" Naruto grumbled and trailed off as he grasped his sword and ever so gently began to saw his own head off. However, as you may expect, it isn't that easy, and in his haste, his head once again rolled away from him. "Fuck!"
This time, however, his body quickly found his head and attached it, the right way this time. Naruto wiped off his blade as he thought that something was finally going right. He began walking back, as he crouched down and picked up Mizore's ice kunai from earlier.
As he thought of the girl, he idly looked behind him and saw the girl helping her friends take on more Anti-thesis grunts. He was slightly shocked when he saw multiple copies of her, and vowed to ask either her or Kyuubi about it later. Pushing the sight to the back of his mind for now, he just kept on walking until he suddenly noticed something and stopped.
He looked back down at the kunai, spotting the blood that had frozen almost all over. He took a lick that sent a shiver down his spine, lapping up the blood and swallowing. 'Hmm, it's almost like a popsicle,' he mused, before his body started tingling and he grinned.
Midou was taking a slight breather. As he did so, he regarded Tsukune as the boy began trembling before he collapsed to the ground. He then looked to Moka, noticing the look on her face. It was one that showed a resigned duty and anticipation. Anxiousness, almost. For what, he didn't know, but feeling well enough to get back up, he did so, before approaching the female vampire. That was, until he was stopped… again.
"Hey shithead!" Midou turned around, anger skyrocketing and patience diminishing rapidly.
"What the fuck do you want? Can't any of you retards just let me do my fucking job so I can leave this damn place and take a fucking nap? I mean, really, how many times do I have to knock you the fuck down before you stay that way? You think I want to be here? I don't! So let me do this and we can all go home and live happily fuckin' ever after you dumbass!"
The hybrid turned, and looked confused as he saw Naruto no longer looked like his normal self. In fact, everyone looked, drawn in by the boy's shout. Well, everyone but Mizore's ice copies, who continued to fight and swiftly dispatched their targets, and Tsukune, who was now convulsing on the floor. What everyone saw was a pitch-black Naruto, with white markings where one would say his bones would be. They also noticed him standing in a pentagon-like mark on the floor that seemed to be drawn in… blood?
The blonde regarded the hybrid with a bored look as he idly twirled his wakizashi in his fingers. He stopped as the blade was finally facing him. "You know, you scream too much. But, hey, if that's the way you're gonna' be, I'll give ya something to scream about."
With that, Naruto plunged the blade down, stabbing himself in his left thigh. Many were shocked and wondered just why the boy would stab himself, when Midou collapsed to the ground, holding his newly bleeding leg with a yelp.
Naruto just grinned as he ripped the serrated blade out, bringing flesh, muscle, and ligament with it, causing Midou to scream even more. However, that grin soon turned into a frown, as he realized something wasn't right. There was something in the air. Something familiar. He turned his gaze with widened eyes over to Tsukune, to see him slowly stand up, staggering a bit.
The boy stood up to his full height, seeing Midou on the ground, bleeding. Everyone was looking at him now, noticing his now slit pupils and blood-red eyes, much like Moka's, as he approached the boy. The hybrid was blissfully unaware of the approaching danger as he struggled to rise. He managed to get on his hands and knees before he noticed a shadow over him. He cautiously looked up, only to be sent across the room from a kick to the face.
He flew through the air as he crashed against a wall with a sickening crack, part of the structure coming down on top of him. Tsukune continued his slow approach as everyone finally realized what was going on. "Shit!" Naruto said as he quickly left the symbol, all heal and skin turning to normal, headed for Moka where everyone else was gathered.
Meanwhile, Tsukune pulled Midou from the rubble, before throwing him back to the center of the room. Walking back up to the body, he gave a quick stomp on his right side, causing even more cracking and popping sounds as Midou coughed up a mouthful of blood with a gasp.
"We need to do some thing, and fast," said Kurumu as Tsukune began pounding on the hybrid's chest, arms, and face. Moka just shook her head.
"There's nothing we can do," she said solemnly.
"What do you mean?" Naruto regarded the girl with a heated gaze, irked by her lack of trying.
"I mean that he's lost himself." She turned back to the boy as she continued. "He's become a ghoul; a monster created when a person losses all their humanity, all of the cognitive thought and becomes nothing more than an animal, acting on nothing but instinct and bloodlust alone. I fear that the blood I injected into him before has finally taken control of his mind." The girl finally stood up, fully facing the scene of brutality. "Our only option is to do away with him before he comes after us. This is my fault, and it's my responsibility. I'll be the one to do it."
"You can't!" Yukari voiced their collective thoughts. "There has to be another way. Besides, you're still to weak from that dirty trick that bastard pulled."
"We don't have a choice!" she snapped. "All of you have already done your fair share of work, and as I said, it is my responsibility. Besides, there is no one else here who can possibly help us now, it's too dangerous."
Just then, the door of the warehouse burst open, and in walked in several people. "Well, isn't this a fine mess we've stumble upon? Good work, Zetsu-san." From the door appeared several familiar faces, though not all were familiar to everyone. Each person immediately recognized a different individual.
"Ruby-san!"
"Hey, isn't that the guy who helped us take down Kuyou?"
"Amami-sensei, why are you here?"
"It's that creepy chairman guy."
Yes, it seemed that four individuals had come just in time to help, though the one Naruto didn't know, the girl with black hair done up in pigtails whom Yukari had called 'Ruby', did seem kind of out of place, especially given her choice of clothing.
Moka growled as she eyed the newcomers. "What are you doing here?"
The chairman just smiled his unnerving smile. "Isn't it obvious? We're here to help."
"You're too late for that. Tsukune has already lost himself to the effects of my blood. The only thing we can do is eliminate him," she said bitterly.
"How did you guys know we were here anyway?" All eyes fell on Naruto, realizing that the blonde had a good point. This time, it was Konjyoyaki who spoke up.
"Zetsu here was following you with the instructions to come find me if one of your fights got out of hand, like now."
"Then why didn't he jump in to help us?" asked Kurumu.
"Zetsu isn't the best fighter around, but he can dispatch weaker enemies with relative ease and help buy time with stronger opponents. Also, the orders told him explicitly not to engage the hostiles and to come find me. Now, are we going to stand around talking all day, or can we do our job?"
Moka once again growled. "This is my problem, stay out of it! As I said before, the only way we can help Tsukune is to put him out of his misery; something that is my duty alone."
"Don't be so sure that there is nothing else we can do," the chairman said with a twinkle in his glowing eyes. The white-clothed man nodded to Ruby and Konjyoyaki. "You two have your orders."
With a nod from both individuals, they acted. The girl began muttering something under her breath as she began waving her wand around. Meanwhile, the eternally smoking man accepted something from the chairman before dashing off towards the possessed boy. The orange-eyed man closed the gap between them in under a second.
The dehumanized boy looked up from beating his unconscious and barely breathing foe, just before receiving an elbow from Konjyoyaki. Tsukune was launched from his place and thrown into the air, as the one-armed man once again seemed to vanish.
He reappeared right in front of the boy, as he was about to hit the ground and directed a kick to his midsection. However, this time Tsukune was prepared, as he caught the handi-capable man's leg and spun him around, throwing the man into a wall.
Konjyoyaki flipped in the air, landing on the vertical surface with his feet and using chakra to stick there. Tsukune was on the man once again, finding this new target much more entertaining than the motionless body of Midou. The smoker didn't move as Tsukune launched a punch at the man.
Just as the fist was about to connect, Ruby finished her incantation. Vines burst from the ground and sped off towards Tsukune. They wrapped around the brunette's arms and legs just before Konjyoyaki could receive the punch.
Acting on the opportunity, the man got right next to the immobilized boy. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the object the chairman gave him; it was a silver locket. He quickly looped it around the boy's outstretched arm several times and tightened it. Once that was done, he appeared behind the boy and gave him a quick chop to the neck, catching the knocked out boy as Ruby dispersed the vines back into the ground.
"How's that for an alternative?" the chairman's voice startled the children, getting their attention back onto him. Moka was the first to regain her senses.
"What did that man just do, exactly?"
"We can explain later. Right now, we're headed to get you all patched up at the infirmary and detain this guy there until he's well enough to answer a few questions." Everyone looked back towards Konjyoyaki, who now had Tsukune slung over his back and was dragging Midou behind him. Zetsu quickly moved to help the man carry the hybrid so he could carry Tsukune in a more comfortable position on his shoulder. Seeing no other option, the children began following the others to the infirmary.
/
"I'm telling you, I don't need to be in this bed!" Naruto shouted, trying to sit up and get out of the hospital bed, only to be pushed back down with a glare from Kurumu.
"And I'm telling you, anyone who gets their head punched off needs medical treatment!" the blue-haired girl shouted back. Naruto grumbled something under his breath as he sat back irritably, something that the acute ears of several people in the room heard. Gin chuckled slightly as Kurumu had another outburst, "What was that?"
"I don't get it, what are they going on about?" asked Ruby, voicing the thoughts of those who didn't hear what Naruto said.
Konjyoyaki just shook his head. "I'll tell you later." Everyone who had been at the warehouse or who had come to rescue Tsukune was in the same room of the infirmary, which was really more like an on-campus hospital, what with its several stories and equipment that some lower-level hospitals would be envious of. Naruto occupied one of the three beds in the room, the other two holding the unconscious bodies of Tsukune and Moka. The girl, now back in her pink-haired form, had collapsed when her other self had put the rosary back on once they had arrived. Once everyone who was injured got bandaged up, they returned to the room, only to find the nurses who had been informed of Naruto's recently decapitated form trying to get the blonde to stay in a bed long enough to run some tests on him. Kurumu all too eagerly offered to make sure the blonde stayed put.
Speaking of which, the succubus turned to the smoker, eyeing him with a glare of his own. "And you," she said pointing to him, "Why are you even here? And why the hell are you smoking? This is a hospital!"
Konjyoyaki, who had done this song and dance only too many times in the past, just shrugged his shoulders as he spoke his answer. "It's for medical purposes."
"Bullshit! You should at least have the decency to do it outside!"
With a sigh, Konjyoyaki made his way from the doorway to the other side of the room. Once there, he opened the window in front of him and crawled outside until he was sitting on the ledge. "Better?" Kurumu just glowered at the goateed man, but otherwise kept silent.
Suddenly, there was a stirring, drawing everyone's attention over to the bed the pink-haired vampire was occupying. "Ugh, where am I?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her head.
"Moka-san, you're awake!" yelled Yukari, stating the obvious as she jumped onto the unsuspecting girl. Kurumu just grumbled as she approached the bed and pried the little witch off of her friend. Now freed of the child, Moka got a chance to take in her surroundings.
She quickly concluded she was in a hospital, surrounded by friends and two men she didn't know; one standing in the corner dressed in white robes giving her an unnerving smile, and the other sitting on the window sill smoking, also dressed in white, with both his right eye and arm missing.
Taking her eyes off the two, she found that she was in a bed with both Yukari and Kurumu standing by her side. Looking towards the door, she saw gin propping himself up on the frame. He flashed her a friendly smile and gave a wave as she continued on. Ruby, someone who she had met on the summer trip, was there surprisingly. She was near the wall closest to the foot of her bed and a little off to the right.
A little to the left of the older witch was the bi-coloured boy she had some to know as Zetsu. Looking back to her right, she spotted Tsukune's unconscious form lying in a bed like hers. Giving the boy a worried glance, she finally looked directly to her left. There she noticed Mizore standing at the bedside of a familiar blonde, both looking to her. As she saw the boy, she couldn't help but remember what he had told her right before se was kidnapped. She was also confused, though. Hadn't he been killed? Yet, he didn't appear to have so much as a scratch on him.
"Moka? Are you all there?" the girl was broken from her observations when she noticed her blue-haired friend waving a hand in front of her face.
"Huh?" she asked, not able to think of anything else.
"You spaced out there. I asked if you remembered anything about what happened."
Moka's face quickly turned a shade to match her hair as she now realized everyone was regarding her with quizzical eyes… well, eye in Konjyoyaki's case. A bit too quickly, she stuttered out an answer, "N-Not really. T-The last thing I remember is T-Tsukune-kun t-taking off the rosary, and everything before that."
As she said that, she looked to Naruto to see tat he had a dismayed, apprehensive look on his face. She knew why it was there. She saw him look at her through the corner of his eye for a brief second before averting it back to his hands. Although she barely held his gaze for a second, he knew what he was telling her. He accepted what she was about to do and wouldn't hold it against her. Normally, she wouldn't do it now with so many people around, but, as it was, she needed to know what caused him to do it, and he did say that he would explain.
"Umm, Naruto-san?" a few people turned to the blonde as he looked to her, resolve plastered on his face. Despite making her waver a bit in her decision, she continued on. "Back when I was kidnapped, right before you were attacked, you said that there was someone in the trees and to keep quiet, then said what was going to happen. And you said sorry, too. Did you intentionally help have me kidnapped?"
Everyone turned to the blonde, perplexity and shock building within him or her. What he said next caused those feelings to explode. "As sad as it yes, Moka-san, I helped kidnap you."
It was silent for a few moments, before Kurumu quickly rounded on the blonde. "Why you damn…!" the girl moved to make a hit, but was stopped as Mizore and Zetsu moved to block her path. Not one to be deterred, the blue-haired girl continued, aiming to strike the yellow-eyed boy. She never expected her fist to be caught by a gloved hand.
"Now, now, there is no need to resort to violence." Everyone looked to the person who now grasped Kurumu's fist, only to find Konjyoyaki. The girl looked back to the cripple's last known position, only to find that the windowsill was, indeed, vacated.
"Please, Kurumu-chan, let Naruto-san speak. There must be a reason for his decision to help the enemy." The girl looked over to Moka, who had a pleading look in her eyes. After a bit of hesitation, she finally gave up with a huff and pulled her hand away from the teacher, retreating back to an unoccupied corner in the room.
With a potentially volatile situation diffused, Naruto continued with a sigh. "You're right, there is a reason. You see, a few weeks back, I was approached by the self-proclaimed leader of Anti-thesis, a group hell-bent on proving monster, especially hybrid, superiority over humans. The guy, named Kiria, said that he wanted me in his group."
"Excuse me, but are you saying that Yoshii Kiria said that he is the leader of Anti-thesis?" everyone looked at the chairman in confusion at his interruption, while Naruto just gave a nod. "I see. That is highly unlikely, seeing as Kiria has been known to be unenthusiastic about things like this and lacks ambition, being better suited to the position of a follower. It is more likely that the true leader of Anti-thesis would rather stay hidden and sent Kiria to act as the faux leader. But that would also mean that Kiria is still a high-ranking member of the group to be trusted to hold such a position. I'll make sure to keep an eye on him; please, continue with your story, Uzumaki-san."
"Right, anyway, I declined and proceeded to get into a fight with him. After he easily handed my ass to me, he just left. A few days ago, he came back, and once again offered me a position. This time when I declined, he did something. He said that he would go after you and showed me the means to do so. If he could take care of me, what chance did you guys have? I had no choice."
"Why didn't you tell us, Naruto-kun? We probably could have thought of something. We could have gone to the chairman." Naruto looked to Mizore, but couldn't seem to meet her gaze.
"I couldn't think straight, and I guess that I was ashamed that I had sided with the enemy. I didn't want you to find out. I never could have expected that I would be sent to help harm you." Many looked to the boy with sympathy. However, one person wouldn't be swayed so simply.
"A likely story. Sorry, but a few words won't make up for a betrayal like yours."
"Kurumu-cha-…" Moka didn't get to finish.
"No Moka. It's his fault that we got into this mess, and his fault that Tsukune is like this. He had plenty of chance to tell us earlier, but instead decided to help kidnap you and tell us the truth only after you backed him into a corner."
Naruto looked at the blue-haired girl and growled in indignation. Even If what she had said had been partially right, this girl couldn't possibly understand what he had been through. "I don't need this." Before anyone could stop him, Naruto made a few quick seals and was gone inn a poof of smoke. In his place was a chair, like the ones seen ion the waiting room and that lined the hallway.
"Where did he go?" asked Mizore. The orange-eyed man supplied a helpful answer.
"He used a Kawarimi, a technique that replaces one's self with a nearby object. A useful technique for evading enemies and serving for distractions. Truthfully, he couldn't have gotten far and you can probably still catch them." People looked at him wondering how he knew that, before Mizore gave a quick glare at Kurumu and turned to Zetsu.
"Come on, we need to go find him." The boy gave a nod as the two made their way to the door.
"Wait, take Konjyoyaki and Ruby-san with you, they can help you find him." said individuals turned to the chairman, wondering why he hired them out. The cripple quickly agreed and joined the group, though the witch wasn't as compliant, obviously wanting to stay near the still unconscious boy. However, a look from her superior made her a bit more agreeable and she, too, joined the group as they left.
As soon as they were gone, the man just grinned and looked to the boy. He could sense the boy was waking and quickly hid in the shadows of the room. He didn't want to be seen just yet, after all.
/
As soon as the group of four was outside and the door behind them was shut, Konjyoyaki spoke up with a plan. "I think that it's a safe bet to say that we can cover more ground if we split up. Ruby-san and I will go down here," he said while pointing down the left corridor, and then pointed in the other direction, indicating that Mizore and Zetsu should go that way, "And you two should search in that direction."
Agreeing that it was a sound plan, Mizore nodded and took Zetsu down to the right, the latter of who shared a quick glance with Konjyoyaki, before the cripple took his partner down their designated path. As soon as they were out of earshot, the witch remembered something. "Hey, Konjyoyaki-san?" the man turned his one good eye to the girl. "You can sense people's energies rather easily, correct?"
"That's right," he said as the two continued their slow pace down the hallway, taking a left as they went.
"Well, if that's true, why can't you just sense where Naruto-san is?"
"I did. That's why I sent the other two to find him." This caused Ruby to stop in her tracks, causing the much taller man to stop moments later. He turned to her with a questioning look.
"So why didn't we all just stay together? Better yet, if the chairman knows that you can do this, why was I even sent out of the room?"
The man gave a slight grin as he fully turned to face the girl. "While I can't be sure about the latter question, I can say that I would rather not go against that man, and, for your sake, it's probably better that you listened and came along. As for your other question…" Konjyoyaki turned back around and began to walk again, Ruby following behind him, "I think that it would be better for everyone involved if Uzumaki-san were confronted by people he knows and trusts rather than someone he hasn't really met and someone he hasn't gotten along with in the past."
The witch looked up to the man, realization in her eyes as they passed by a group of nurses, all of them glaring at Konjyoyaki for smoking. All of the medical staff may have been informed that the man was allowed to smoke anywhere he wished for unknown reasons (2), and had been advised against reprimanding him by the chairman himself, but they didn't have to like the ruling. As soon as they passed the group, the girl spoke, "You know Naruto-san from a previous encounter?"
"Yes, from about two years ago. At the time, things were very complicated. I was hired to… watch over him, and he didn't exactly like the thought of that. To top it all off, he was dating my niece at the time."
"You have a niece? That means you must have siblings," said Ruby, for some reason feeling happy for the man, knowing he had family that he could go to if he had any problems. In the past, all she had was her old master, and now she had some friends to help her with her troubles. She had thought that the man had had no one there for him, but now knew otherwise.
"I suppose you could say that; an older sister and a younger brother. The kid was hers. Unfortunately, I haven't seen them for a long time, along with my mother."
"What about your father?" she asked, realizing that she had been wrong about him having close people to him. She watched as he clenched his fist at the mention of his father, trembling slightly. She didn't know why, but, for some reason, she suddenly feared for her life, a slight shift in his energies causing her to sweat a bit.
Finally, as if becoming aware of his companions state, he released his fist and his chakras went back to normal. An awkward silence followed before anyone spoke. "My father is the reason that I haven't seen most of my family for a while. If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it."
"I see," Ruby said, feeling a bit down that she had made this man feel something he was probably trying to forget. Konjyoyaki noticed that the girl was now more solemn, and knew she blamed herself for making him enraged. He knew she didn't mean it, and tried to take her mind off of it.
"You know, you did well in that battle earlier."
The girl suddenly looked up, face growing red from the compliment. "W-What do you mean?" she stuttered, embarrassed. This just caused her to blush more. "You're the one who did all the work; I just restrained Tsukune-kun."
"Nonsense," Konjyoyaki said, a slight grin showing on his features. "Without your help, I probably wouldn't have gotten him to stay still long enough to slip the locket onto him. I might have back in the day when I had two eyes and two arms, but not any more. If you weren't there, it would probably be me in one of those hospital beds while he was being shipped down to the morgue."
Ruby just smiled at the compliment, knowing she had worth and forgetting about prying too much into Konjyoyaki's past. The two just continued on in silence. (3)
/
Zetsu and Mizore continued their own journey, until they inevitably came to a fork in their path. With a weary sigh, the purple-haired yuki onna regarded her green-haired companion. "So, looks like we have to split up again. Do you have a preference on which way you want?"
Zetsu was silent for a moment as he closed his yellow eyes to concentrate. He reached out with his senses, focusing on the familiar, volatile energy that he had come to know as Naruto. His eyes snapped open as soon as he grasped onto the blonde's location a few moments later. "I'll take the left path, if you don't mind. You go right."
With a nod from Mizore, both went their own ways. The hall was silent for about a minute before the twin-coloured visage if Zetsu rounded back from where he went, the man intent on returning to the room.
'Good luck, Mizore-san.' 'Hopefully, you can get Naruto-san to come back. He trusts you more, anyway.'
/
A few minutes after splitting up, Mizore heard a distinct banging noise come from just around the corner. Hopes soaring, she rushed in the direction of the noise. What she saw caused her to be filled with a sense of elation and a bit of sadness.
Naruto once again hit the vending machine, aggravated with the lack of results it caused. Finally deciding to just rest his head on the machine, he thought of how this day could get any worse. "Stupid technology. Can't even work right." He was unaware of Mizore's presence. As such, he didn't know that she could hear everything he said. "Fucking blue-haired bitch. What the hell does she know? She can't possibly understand the position I was in. now everyone thinks I'm some jackass who'll turn on them any second. Shit, what do I do?"
Mizore couldn't take it anymore ad emerged from her hiding place, intent on making the boy feel better. "That's not true, Naruto-kun."
The blonde looked up, his startled state showing in his wide eyes. "Mizore-chan? What are you doing here?" the girl paid him no heed as she continued her approach.
"I don't think that about you, and I know a few other people don't think that either. I know you had your reasons for doing what you did, and, although it could have gone through with better execution, your plan was fine."
Naruto turned away, refusing to look the girl in the eye. "Thanks, but that's not the point. Kurumu was right, about almost everything. I was irresponsible, and because of me, everyone got injured."
"That's not true Naruto-kun, and you know that." Mizore spoke with a firmer tone, hoping to get` it through to the blonde that things could have gone worse.
"Yes, it is! I could have ended that guy easily, but deep down, I wanted to draw the fight out, wanted to make anti-thesis and everyone in it to suffer. I caused that guy to attack everyone, and that caused Tsukune to go off the deep end. Fuck, I even caused you to think I was dead and almost made you breakdown completely." With that, the blonde turned around to the bench behind him and took a seat on it, Mizore sitting right beside him.
"Despite what you may think, I don't blame you, and all that matters now is that everyone is okay." Naruto looked down at the floor.
"That's not the point." It was quiet for a moment as both contemplated on the situation. After a while, Naruto calmed down a bit and was ready to speak again. "I lied back there, you know. In the hospital room, I said that I agreed only because Kiria threatened everyone. That's not true. You're the only one he threatened." Mizore was silent, looking at the boy with barely contained shock. "I joined to protect you. Still, I never knew that I would be sent after your friends. But, even if I had, I still would have agreed. I refuse to let harm come to you."
The purple-haired girl just looked at Naruto before smiling a bit, shaking her head. This boy, he really did care about her. It made a warm feeling grow inside of her, knowing he would do anything for her, something she didn't quite understand. She just wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders. The blonde reciprocated the motion, looking to the girl as she rested her head against him. Finally, Naruto let out a smile, as he laid his head down on hers, and all was silent.
/
In another part of the hospital, things weren't so peaceful. In a dark room, a door opened, allowing a blonde-haired nurse to enter a room filled with the rhythmic beeping of machines. She gave an all too cheery smile to the boy in the bed, one barely seen in the dim room.
"Oh Midou-kun, I'm here with your medicine," she said, carrying a tray holding paper cups, each filled with various pills. Said boy looked up to the nurse, his body and face heavily bandaged. Even then, various burns and bruises showed through. He managed a grin as he spoke.
"Hey Mako-chan." The girl continued foreword, holding out a cup to the boy.
"Since you're handcuffed to the bed, looks like I'll have to give you your medicine. Open wide." The boy complied, swallowing the pills as they were given to him. Smiling, Mako set the tray down on the bedside table and took a set in the chair near the bed. Though her smile grew bigger, her tone grew graver. "You know Midou-kun, Anti-thesis is less than pleased with the results of your last mission." The injured boy looked to Mako, wide-eyed.
"But it wasn't my fault! That agent Kiria hired…" he was cut off as the blonde placed a delicate hand on the boys mouth.
"Be that as it may, I have my orders Midou-kun. I'm sorry." Her grin said that she wasn't sorry at all. However, just as she was about to strike, someone grabbed her hand. "Huh? M-Midou-kun, why aren't you handcuffed to the bed?" the girl asked, afraid. This wasn't right. The boy just laughed.
"Maybe because I'm not Midou." With a laugh, the figure just turned into a puff of smoke. Before Mako could scream, she felt something pierce her neck and fell silent. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a man dressed in a gray cloak, a hood shadowing his face. To his side stood Mako, her hair now streaked white and her irises glowing an unnatural, sickly green colour. The man grinned. "And better yet, I think I've finally perfected the formula."
/
And there you have it. Next up is Natural Biotic, where things finally get started. I still need a beta for that, so anyone who wants to volunteer to help will be accepted, granted they prove themselves.
(1). Yeah, I just figured that Kyuubi should play a bigger role, so I let it have the ability to control Naruto's body when he has no head. As you can see, there are still some kinks in the whole system of control that needs some fine-tuning.
(2). First off, no, Kon is not smoking the reefer. The whole story behind him smoking will be explained in part two of this story, along with some of his past.
(3). Just a bit of nonsense. I figure, Tsukune already has three girls, so I'd just let Ruby's mind wander on other possibilities. I don't know, does anyone want to see the witch with the cripple? I was originally thinking Shizuka, but I have other plans for her.
What will be the reaction when Tsukune hears of Naruto's treachery? How will this effect Naruto and Mizore's relationship. And what does the cloaked man's new formula do, exactly? Stay tuned to find out. I figure that this part has about three chapters left. I'm gonna wrap up the whole Anti-thesis thing next time in a big, super chapter, then move on to the festival. I think I'll take a brief break after chapter 15 to focus on my other stories; they're probably feeling terribly unloved. Anyhow, this chapter was 8,993 words long! Also, thanks to Lykaos, who helped me fix some spelling errors and make the whole decapitated scene a bit more light-hearted! Thanks dude!