Hey guys. You know, this chapter should have come out sooner, but life just seems to hate me right now. I've been really pissed for multiple reasons that seemed to hit me all at once, every time I sat done in front of the computer, I found myself unable to concentrate and had to force myself to type, unfortunately, my beta, Lykaos, had his computer crash, lost all of the notes he had for a story he was going to write, and now this chapter is unedited because I have a disability that prevents me from reading over my own shit. Yes, I have another beta, but I didn't want to bother him. To top it all off, school starts in less than two weeks, and I have a summer project for a humanities class that I've barely even touched. Why the fuck would you accept me into a class that doesn't involve me skipping a grade level if your going to stick me with fucking summer work? well, enough of my bitching, let's get onto why you're here.
/
Disclaimer: I don't own this shit. If you don't understand that by now, your obviously either skipping this, in which case why am I wasting time typing it, or are a flaming retard. I don't know which is worse.
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Chapter 15: Merely a Test
Light gently flowed into the room through a window as the sun peeked above the horizon on this early morning at Youkai Academy. Birds fluttered through the air, singing their songs as carefree as they could be, unaware of the danger that was fast bound to ruin this lovely day. But how could they know? How could anyone know, for that matter? While it was true several individuals could comprehend the full scope of danger, those planning it and those waiting to capitalizes on it, a couple knew only of their own plans and orders while everyone else was left completely oblivious and unsuspecting, a state of mind that would cost a few innocent souls their lives.
But that would happen until much later. For now, people could enjoy the peace of the morning and the entertainment laid out for them. They could spend the day with their loved ones, making the most of this that would turn into one of the worst at the school, acting as the cataclysm that would push a certain blonde headed boy on a path to discover the truth. The truth for why he was here, of what his destiny was.
But, once again, I digress, you are not yet ready to understand the full story, and neither is young Uzumaki Naruto. The shinobi was still in bed, sleeping soundly. In his mind, he was replaying everything that had happened the previous day. A small smile came to his whiskered face as he thought back on the memories.
That smile slowly turned into a scowl, however, as the early morning light that had been constantly moving across the floor of the room flooded Naruto's eyelids with its yellow light. Annoyed with the turn of events, the groggy blonde flipped over to his other side, avoiding the light and being gaining the right to sleep a little longer.
However, it wasn't meant to be, as something new distracted Naruto in his quest to gain sleep. A sound. A very unfamiliar one at that. In fact, if the jinchuuriki of one of the most powerful beings to be created by Jashin didn't know any better, he would have thought that it sounded almost like a moan. And in that moment, a pair of blue eyes snapped open in shock, sleep be damned.
There, laying right next to Naruto, faces only a few inches apart, was one Shirayuki Mizore. The girl's hair was slightly messed up and she had the sheets pulled up to her chin, sucker was still in her mouth, which Naruto would have found cute, if he weren't scared out of his fucking mind at the moment.
'Kyuubi, what the fuck happened? Why is Mizore-chan in my bed?'
His response was in the form of a growl.'Shut the hell up! It's way to early in the fucking morning for you to be yelling. Now go back to sleep!'
'B-but Mizore-chan...!' his shout was cut off by Kyuubi, who sounded way too lax about this whole situation.
'Relax kid. There's nothing to worry about.' Naruto heaved a mental sigh at that, thinking the worst of his fears were nothing but speculation. He nearly had a panic attack at what was said next. 'After all, you took my advice and used a condom. Nothing to worry about.'
For a few moments, everything was silent. Naruto didn't dare to even breathe, let alone move, as he just stared at the serene looking girl in front of him, his mouth open in a silent scream, his eyes holding a haunted look in them. Not only had he just apparently lost his virginity to a girl he had just started dating, he couldn't even remember the fucking thing! How far was that? Naruto's brain suddenly turned back on as he registered Kyuubi laughing.
'Oh fuck! Okay, okay, I'm sorry! But that was just too good of a chance to pass up!' rumbling laughter once again ripped through the blonde's head causing a twitch to develop in one of his eyes.
'You mean I didn't actually... you know, do it?'
'C'mon, stop pussyfooting around the subject! No, you didn't fuck her, are you kidding? You couldn't use that limp thing you call a dick to make a hole in a wet paper bag!' the laughing continued as Naruto just twitched more at the insult to his manhood.
'I really hate you, you know that?' he didn't get a reply as the mental connection was cut off. But, that still left the matter of why his new girlfriend was in his bed. Suddenly, the memories all came back to him, rushing in with all the force of a tidal wave.
He remembered it being late by the time the two had parted ways with Mizore's mother, the elder woman giving the two a knowing smile, leading Naruto to believe that Tsurara knew what had happened on the roof of the school. Both of the kids has the decency to blush a bit. Regardless, they wished the woman a safe trip and began on their way towards the dorms.
As they approached the first of the large buildings, the boys' dorm, Naruto noticed Mizore had a tired look in her eyes, barely being able to keep her eyelids open and staggering every couple of steps. When the girl tried and failed to stifle a huge yawn, the blonde couldn't take it any longer.
"Mizore-chan, why don't you sleep in my room tonight? You don't look like you can make the trip to the girls' dorm by yourself."
The purple-haired girl just gave him a bleary-eyed gaze. "N-no, that's fi...," the girls was cut of as she gave off another large yawn. In truth, she hadn't gotten much sleep the other night, the prospect of spending the whole day with Naruto on what consisted as a date being to exciting to her. Even if she was extremely tired and wanted to spend the night with her boyfriend, she didn't want to impose on him, even if he had offered. "I'm fine, really."
The blonde's stern gaze said exactly what he was thinking. "Mizore-chan, you're in no state to travel. If we were attacked on the way to your room, you wouldn't be able to defend yourself. Come on, it's easier for everyone involved if you just accept my offer."
The girl was about to retort, saying she was perfectly capable of going on, when she began to sway from side to side. Before she knew it, Mizore was falling forwards, her legs having given out on her. Luckily, Naruto was there to catch her.
"I think that pretty much puts an end to this discussion. Come on." And with that, Naruto picked the girl up like one would their new bride and began towards the building. However, as the front door came in sight, a though occurred to him. He couldn't very well just waltz in carrying a girl, the guy at the front desk would ask too many questions and probably still not allow him up to his room. So, that left but one option. "Hang on tight, Mizore-chan." and with that, Naruto took a great leap and landed on the side of the building.
Now attached to the vertical surface thanks to a little chakra, Naruto began his walk up, trying to figure out which room was his. However, the whole experience left Mizore wondering if she was dreaming. Never in her life had she thought that she would be carried up a wall by her new boyfriend who was apparently immortal and not even from her dimension to begin with. Soon enough, Naruto found his room and opened the window before he crawled inside.
Naruto placed Mizore on his bed and closed the window, before he began to head towards the door. "Where are you going?" Mizore's voice cut through the darkened room, startling the blonde since he had thought the girl had fallen asleep. Regardless, Naruto turned to her and gave a simple answer.
"I'm gonna' crash in the living room for tonight." and with that, he began to open the door. However, that didn't seem right to Mizore. She was a guest and shouldn't have to make her host sleep on a couch or something. Managing to sit up, she tried to explain this to the blonde.
"No, I should be sleeping in the living room, not taking your bed. Here, let me switch with you."
"No, just stay there, I'll be fine," Naruto tried to argue back. However, the yuki onna wasn't going down without a fight.
"Fine, I'll stay, but at least sleep in the bed with me. It's plenty big enough. Besides, how else will you know if I try to leave?" Naruto paused, trying to find a flaw in the girl's logic. It quickly became apparent that there wasn't, and if there was, it wasn't big.
Sighing, Naruto closed the girl and turned to Mizore, the girl barely being able to make out his form in the dim light. The blonde really didn't want to have an argument. "If it will make you go to sleep, fine, I'll sleep in the bed with you." even in the poor light, Naruto could still see the girl's small grin of victory.
Pacing over to a bureau in the room, the boy retrieved a tank-top and a pair of shorts before stripping his uniform and putting the sleeping clothes on. He then got into bed and covered both him and Mizore up with the sheets. He could feel her shift around a bit, but after that, he heard her breathing slow, a sign that she fell asleep. The blonde followed suit soon after.
Back in the present time, Naruto just continued to stare at the girl, shifting through all the information that had recently come back to him. Blinking a bit, the only thought that came to mind was, 'Well, that explains a lot.' glancing back over to his left, Naruto saw the clock read seven in the morning. As much as he would have liked to stay in bed, the blonde instead decided that now may be a good time to get ready.
After doing his morning routine, Naruto returned to his room to get dressed, being quiet so as not to awaken the sleeping girl.. He quickly threw on his pants and dress shirt, but, as per usual, was having trouble with his tie. After some struggling, he finally decided to ditch the red piece of cloth, figuring that it was more trouble than it was worth today an instead deciding to leave his pendant in full view. However, as he was putting on his green blazer, he heard Mizore getting out of bed.
Turning around with a smile on his face, Naruto regarded the girl. "Have a good night?" he asked. However, he quickly froze as he spied Mizore's state of dress. During the night, the girl had apparently rid herself of her sweatshirt and skirt, leaving her clad only in her black sleeveless shirt and purple and white striped panties along with her stockings.
The blonde continued to watch as the girl stretched, bringing her shirt up to show a bit of her flat stomach. Naruto continued to look on at the scene, a huge blush on his face as he stood completely still, one of his arms only halfway in his blazer. Eventually, Mizore took notice of her friend, and a confused look made its way onto her face.
Looking down to inspect herself, she realized that it was her state of dress causing him to act this way. A blush made itself apparent on her face as well as embarrassment overtook Mizore. Seeing as they were now in the same boat, Naruto snapped out of it and quickly turned around before he started to shuffle out of the room. "S-sorry," was all that was said as he left the blushing girl.
/
That awkward moment was followed shortly after by a quick breakfast, both individuals fully aware of the awkward silence hanging about the table. However, there really was nothing to say, nothing that wouldn't increase the embarrassment that both felt. So, the morning continued on in silence, until finally they left Naruto's dorm to enjoy the day's festivities.
"So..." the blonde started off, almost unsure of himself as he and Mizore walked through the crowds, hand in hand once more, "Anything in particular that you want to do today?"
"Not much," Mizore replied with a small shrug before she leaned gently into her boyfriend. "Maybe we can just hang out with everyone else today, find out what they did, you know."
"Works for me," and with that, the two went off to try and find the members of their club that were off-duty in the large mass of people. If all else failed, it at least gave the two of them an activity to kill time with.
Surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to find Zetsu. Then again, the man did kind of stand out in a crowd. At the call of his name, the two-toned man turned towards his friends. The normally stoic man allowed a small grin appear on his face. "Hello, you two."
Naruto also let a grin show on his face, the same with Mizore. Yes, Naruto had defiantly warmed up to everyone in the newspaper club. "Hey, I see you're not playing paper football with Gin. What's up?"
That remark quickly set Zetsu's mood back, which the other two quickly took notice of. "Never mention that game around me again." the tone in the man's voice sent a shiver down the blonde's spine. He was about to ask why, but quickly decided against it. He didn't want to know.
"So, have you seen anyone else yet?" asked Mizore. Zetsu just shook his head.
"I have not." it was then that he fully took notice of the interlocked hands the two sported. His mind quickly drew a conclusion. "I take it something good happened last night and you two are together now." Naruto and Mizore both blushed a bit before the girl gave him an answer.
"Yes, me and Naruto-kun are now a couple."
"That is good. I was wondering how long it would take before you two got together." both of the others just looked at him, surprised that he seemed to know that this would happen. Who else knew that they had feelings for each other. Of course, Mizore knew that the other girls knew, but Naruto was rather curious.
"So, anyway, will you help us find the others?" asked Naruto, wanting to get back on topic.
"Sure, I don't have anything better to do." and with that, the trio went back on its way, weaving through the crowds. "I think that it would be a logical choice if we go to our stand if we wish to find Tsukune-san. Seeing as he and Moka are extremely close, he would want to see how she is doing." agreeing with that, the small group quickly went to the location Zetsu suggested.
When they approached, they couldn't help but notice the large crowd gathered around the booth. Right on the outskirts of the group of people, Naruto noticed Tsukune, trying to muscle his way to the front of the commotion. Of course, he was failing abysmally. So, the blonde and his friends began to make their way towards him.
"Hey, Tsukune, what's up?" the brunette jumped a bit a the blonde's greeting, not really expecting the three to come find him. Nonetheless, the boy turned to them with a smile on his face.
"Hey," he said with a small wave as the others continued their approach. With that, he turned back to the crowd, his smile vanishing. Naruto noticed this, and asked him what was going on. The blonde received a sigh. "That's just it, I don't know. This crowd has been here way before I got up. I just came here because this festival isn't really all that fun without anyone to enjoy it with, and I couldn't find any of you."
"Well, why don't you come with us now?" inquired Mizore. "We were planning on finding you an Gin before we actually did anything, so what do you say? Besides, if we come back later, the crowd may have cleared out a bit."
Tsukune grinned at the offer, however, Naruto wasn't really paying attention. The blonde wanted to know why everyone was gathered at their booth. Taking a quick survey of the surrounding area, Naruto quickly found that no one besides those who knew about his shinobi status was paying any particular attention to him. With that, he took a mighty leap to peak over the heads of the crowd. What he saw made him blanch.
The three girls that were running the stand were dressed in probably the most revealing maid uniforms ever. In the blonde's opinion, anyway. The point is, all of them had on extremely short skirt. Their tops were low-cut, showing a substantial amount of cleavage and most of their backs. Of course, the girls also had on leggings, and were all smiling as they handed out papers and drinks. Looking back at the crowd, Naruto wasn't at all surprised to find that it consisted mostly of male students and their other male relatives. As he landed, the others all turned to him.
"Yeah, I don't think we're getting in their at all today."
"Way do you say that, Naruto-san?"
The blonde turned to Tsukune, an unreadable look in his blue eyes. "Please don't ask."
"Um, okay?" the brunette was highly confused, but, being the person he was, he respected his friend's wishes. "So, I guess we should find Gin now?"
"Knowing our club president, I believe that we should search in an area that is plentiful of girls, most likely those who are in a revealing state of dress." Zetsu was right, of course, Gin would be found in that type of environment. Of course, if Naruto really wanted to add his two cents in, he would have told his group that if the older boy wasn't in the crowd behind them, he had no idea where he might be. Then again, if he was in the crowd behind them, there was no way that they would be able to get him out. However, Naruto kept his mouth shut, not wanting to be asked questions of what was going on at the booth. That would lead some awkwardness, and the blonde had had more than enough of that for the day.
As the group left the area, they didn't notice that they were being watched from afar, the dark eyes focusing on one person in particular. A predatory grin came onto the person's shadowed face, loving the thrill of the hunt. The figure decided that they would follow the group a little further to a slightly more secluded area before pouncing on their prey. No sense in attracting too much attention, after all. With that, the hunter continued to to follow its target from the safety of the shadows.
However, the would be silent assailant had a fatal flaw. That flaw was Zetsu. The man's eyes quickly widened as he noticed the presence follow them. He quickly composed himself and made his pace match Naruto's. Seeing this, the blonde eyed his yellow-eyed friend before he spoke in a low voice. "Careful, we're being followed."
Now it was Naruto's turn for his eyes to widen. Making sure that the others weren't aware of the situation, he turned back to Zetsu. "Do you recognize them?"
He received a shake of the head. "Further more, I can't sense much power radiating from them, nor any truly malicious intent. However, that doesn't mean that they don't pose a threat. I suggest that we find a more secluded spot, that way, if a fight does break out, we are less likely to get anyone else involved."
Naruto pondered the situation over for a bit. He knew no matter what, Zetsu would through with whatever decision he made. The man was loyal like that to those who had earned his trust, an accomplishment Naruto didn't have a clue on how he completed. Regardless, the blonde couldn't really figure out anything better to do than what Zetsu suggested.
So, the blonde began to lead his group down a slightly more deserted path, something that the other two that were left in the dark took notice of. "Hey, Naruto-san, why are we going this way when Gin is probably somewhere back in the crowd?"
The blonde tilted his head to glance at Tsukune, before flashing what he thought was a disarming smile. "Oh, I think this is a shortcut we can use to get around all the crowds so we can find a spot Gin is at faster." Tsukune accepted the answer quickly, seeing no reason to not trust his friend. Mizore, however, suspected something was up. She knew better than to openly question the matter, though. This was obviously something that Naruto didn't want anyone to get worried about.
Back in the shadows, the figure allowed a grin to come to their face. This was just what they wanted, though, they supposed they wished a few more people were around. Oh well, beggars couldn't be choosers. With that the hunter pounced right at their target.
"Hiyah!" Naruto tensed when he heard the yell along with everyone else before all of them turned around, looking for the source of the sound and preparing for a fight. In truth, everyone expected the unknown assailant to go after Naruto, hoping to catch the group's heavy hitter off guard in an attempt to get him out of the fight. It wouldn't have worked very well, of course, but that had never stopped anyone from trying before.
So, the group was slightly shocked and confused when instead it was Tsukune that was attacked, receiving a dropkick to the chest by a dark-haired female which sent the boy going back quite a ways. The girl just smirked as she approached the boy's downed form, a smirk on her face as she placed one foot on top of him, showing how she had prevailed against him. The others were just plain confused, but sensed no danger from the girl, so did absolutely nothing to help their friend.
Meanwhile, the girl just laughed as Tsukune cautiously looked up. Surprise quickly overtook him as he recognized the person on top of him. "Kyouko-chan?" the girl just continued to laugh.
"Surprised, Tsukune-kun?" the boy could say nothing as his friends finally decided to do something.
"You know her, Tsukune?"
The girl, Kyouko, took her foot off of Tsukune and helped him up, still grinning. "Y-yeah, she's my cousin! But why are you here?" the boy turned back to his cousin.
"Oh, come on, Tsukune-kun, you know that we've always been more like siblings than anything! As for why I'm here, I was curious to see how you were doing and what your school was like. And besides, someone needs to protect ya'!" and with that, Kyouko enveloped Tsukune in a hug, the former of who was sweating bullets.
"P-protect?"
"Of course, silly! Between you and me, something about this school sets something in me off, like it's trying to hide something, and I'm gonna' find out what that is!"
Tsukune was in full on panic mode by now. Nothing good come come of his cousin being at the school. Nothing! The boy quickly pulled away from Kyouko and grabbed his friends, dragging them around the corner. "Excuse me for a second, we need to discuss something in private."
When they were out of ear shot, Naruto turned on his friend. "What's going on, Tsukune?"
"Well, long story short, ever since we were young Kyouko has been protecting me and has had a thing for mysteries. So now she's here to see how I'm doing and see if this place is hiding something. So, sooner or later, she is either going to discover that this is a school for monsters, of people here is going to discover that she is human. This is, bad! We need to keep her safe and in the dark."
"One problem," everyone one turned to look at Zetsu, and saw that he was peeking around the corner that the group had run behind, "your cousin is gone."
/
Kyouko was currently moving through the throngs of people, a camera in hand that the girl used to take a picture of anything and anything that she deemed 'suspicious'. Therefore, the flash of the camera bulb was going off almost every five seconds, Kyouko swinging her head to and fro to try and take in all of the scenery. It should come as no surprise that the girl was receiving more than a few stares, but most people wrote her off as an inexperienced journalist. She payed the looks no mind focused on her mission to uncover the truth.
The stares only increased as the girl was tackled by two guys and dragged around a corner, Kyouko screaming in shock from the surprise attack. She flailed about as she was continually pulled across the ground until she was out of sight from all of the people. Her hands searched for something, anything that she could utilize as a weapon.
Suddenly, she felt the cool surface of a discarded glass bottle and quickly gripped it by its neck. It was at that point that Kyouko's captors released her. They began to speak, but she wouldn't listen. Instead, she sprang up and swung the bottle, her eyes closed in fright.
The sound of breaking glass was quickly accompanied by a startled, by filled shout. Not stopping there, Kyouko jumped back, swinging the bottle every which way in an attempt to dissuade her assailants. She heard plenty of swearing and a voice trying to comfort who she thought was the person she hit. However, what made her open her eyes was the familiar voice trying to comfort her.
She almost gasped at what she saw. Tsukune was right in front of her, looking nervous and fearful due to the bottle in her hands, yet still trying to comfort her. He seemed to calm as she lowered her weapon. Turning her head, Kyouko noticed a blonde male picking shards of glass out of the side of his head and face, along with some of his upper torso. Blood clearly stained his white dress shirt, but it had appeared to have stopped flowing.
A purple-haired girl stood beside him, helping him with his plight. Feeling ashamed and slightly stupid, she dropped the remains of the bottle to the ground, looking at her cousin as he began speaking, a relieved look on his face. "Relax, Kyouko-chan, nothing bad is going to happen to you."
"Well I know that now!" she replied, slightly disgruntled. "I mean, seriously, who the hell comes out of nowhere and randomly tackles someone?" all she received was blank looks from everyone present, causing her to blush as she remembered how she greeted Tsukune.
"I told you that it was a dumb-ass idea." that remark caused Kyouko to turn to the blonde, who had finally finished removing all of the glass shards from his person and was washing the blood off of him with some bottled water. She took her eyes off of Naruto and instead looked down at her feet, ashamed; she really could have hurt him, after all.
"Um, sorry for, you know, hitting you with a bottle and stuff." Kyouko rubbed her neck as she apologized. She was surprised with the ease of which Naruto brushed the whole situation off, however.
"No problem. I've been through much worse, trust me," the blonde said, waving his hand. His friends just sweat-dropped a bit, though, giving Naruto a dry look, knowing that it was true. They had heard not much compared to a severed head. Kyouko, however, noticed something.
"Hey, why aren't there any cuts on your face?" Naruto's eyes widened, along with everyone else, as he reached up to feel his face, feeling not even a minor imperfection of the skin.
'Shit!' the blonde thought, sweating a bit. He had to think of a lie to play off Kyuubi's healing factor, and fast. "Um, well, you see," he began, scratching his head nervously, "I have a... cellular issue!" Naruto quickly said, glad that he had thought of something. He rolled with it, quickly making up some, what he hoped to be believable, bullshit. "Yeah, you see, I have this genetic issue that causes my blood to clot abnormally fast when exposed to air. It also has an unusual chemical in it that causes my skin to react and quickly knit itself back together."
"Oh," Kyouko said, believing what she was told. With that, she turned back to Tsukune. "That doesn't explain why you tackled me and dragged me back here!"
"Come on, Kyouko-chan, you were making a scene!" Tsukune tried to plead, but his cousin would have none of it.
"I know you're trying to hide something, all of you," Kyouko narrowed her eyes as they passed over everyone in front of her. With that, she began to turn and walk off, keeping her eyes on the group. "And I'm gonna' find out wha-..." as she began to walk off, Kyouko suddenly hit a solid wall, causing her to stumble back a bit before falling on her ass.
Looking up, she was shocked, to say the least, when she saw a giant, half-black half-white man with green hair, staring down at her with two yellow eyes. She gasped, startled, as she scurried away from Zetsu in fright. The man just kept staring down at her.
"W-what the hell?" she exclaimed, almost fearing for her life. She looked to her cousin and her friends, seeing if they were fairing any better. She was slightly confused to see that they appeared non-pulsed by the menacing figure, even slightly confused themselves why she was so scared. Then, all at once, it hit them.
All three of them remembered being thrown off by Zetsu's appearance when they first met him, something that lasted even weeks after before they just accepted it. So it was no surprise that Kyouko was so afraid.
"Who is this, Tsukune?" she almost yelled out, but more in an authoritative manner, hoping that it would make her cousin give an honest answer faster. She knew Tsukune had an answer, she could see it in his eyes.
"W-well," he stammered, "That's Zetsu. He's one of my friends."
The girl relaxed a bit at hearing that, enough to get back onto her feet and fully face her cousin. "That's nice and all, but why is he like..." Kyouko glanced back over to the man, standing rigid, his expression grinning nothing away, to see if he could hear what she was saying, and to make sure she wasn't seeing things, "that."
"Oh, that, well," Tsukune rubbed the back of his head nervously, realizing that his cousin was referring to Zetsu's complexion. Tsukune had always had a bit of trouble with lying, and lying to his cousin was even more difficult. He feared he would be found out, that everything would be found out, after she questioned his lie. However, hesitating wasn't helping his case, so he just had to wing it. "You see, Zetsu has a skin condition..." yeah, he couldn't think of anything else.
Fortunately, Kyouko just beamed him a smile and embraced Tsukune in a hug. "Aww, Tsukune-kun is finally making friends!" Tsukune just blushed at the comment while Naruto grinned and the other two had small smiles come to their faces at the boys expense. "Even if they are strange and freaky!" the smiles turned bittersweet at that comment, but it held up nonetheless.
"Yeah, you should meet my other friends. They're all kinda' strange." at that, everyone's grins disappeared completely. They knew that Tsukune didn't mean it with ill-intent and was just rolling with the situation, but that didn't stop Naruto from sending the brunette a small glare.
"You have more friends?" Kyouko questioned, genuinely shocked. However, the girl's smile quickly returned, and before anyone knew it, she was dragging Tsukune through the crowds. "Well, let's go see them!" everyone sweat-dropped at seeing the boy being dragged along the ground, getting dust kicked into his face from Kyouko's intense pace. However, they figured that they should follow their friend, so off they went.
/
As the gang reached their club booth, they discovered that Naruto's earlier prediction was correct; instead of the crowd thinning out any, it had, in fact, grown in size. Tsukune just looked on in dismay, comical tears running down his face to form mini-waterfalls. "What the hell is going on? All I want is to see my friends."
Naruto looked at the miserable sight in front of him and couldn't help but feel some pity for the boy. With a sigh, Naruto began to walk off, a plan forming in his mind to get the crowds to leave. "Hey, stay here. I'm gonna' go see something for a second. And, no matter what, don't leave this spot." with that, Naruto walked off, shoving his hands in his pockets as his friends and Kyouko stared at his back.
Eventually, the blonde found himself on the roof of the school, staring down at all of the people below him. 'Hey, Kyuubi? You listening?'
'What is it?' replied the bijuu, wondering what was going on.
'Tell me something, is it possible to focus you energy onto a certain location? You know, to make it so only a certain area can feel it?'
In Naruto's mind, Kyuubi's eyes widened slightly at the question. 'Actually, yes. Demons actually often flare their energy in a display of dominance while keeping nearby humans in the dark about their presence. However, it is a very difficult technique and requires a huge amount of concentration. But, on the plus side, if you can master this, it can help you tremendously with your control'
'Well, I didn't ask about that, but thanks for the info. Anyway, it is possible?'
'Yes, just focus on the area you want the power to be focused to; imagine a dome of power over that one place, and don't think about anything else.'
Naruto let a grin come up to his face as he brought his hands up in a seal and began to concentrate.
/
It came as a surprise to many to feel that enormous spike in power; the raw, foreboding energy that caused a panic in many who felt it. However, anyone who could feel it was mostly confined to the area where the newspaper club's booth was. The only exceptions were those who specialized in sensing energies. Either way, most anyone who felt it quickly left the vicinity of where the power was focused, fearing for their lives.
Kyuubi was actually quite surprised. He was not expecting Naruto to do such a good job at focusing the power to such a constricted area, yet, the blonde did it. Granted, it wasn't a perfect display, and the more power used, the harder to control, but it was a good first try nonetheless.
Naruto just grinned at seeing the result of him unleashing Kyuubi's power, people rushing away from his club's booth, leaving behind only his friends, including the girls left to run the stand. Keeping his grin up, the blonde jumped off the building and landed with a soft thud behind everyone. Since no one but those who knew about his abilities was in the area, he didn't really have to worry about anyone questioning him.
"Fuck, it actually worked," was all he said as everyone turned to him.
"Are you sure that was a good idea?" asked Mizore, causing the blonde to look at her.
"Relax, only the people in this are could feel that. Besides, it worked, didn't it it? Now we can see the rest of our friends." Mizore just shook her head as the blonde kept on grinning.
"We were wondering when you would get here," Kurumu said, drawing attention to herself. "Then again, the crowd was pretty big, so I guess Naruto-san did a good job." the blonde nodded to the big-breasted girl in appreciation, glad that someone saw his plan as a good one. "So, how have you guy's been doing?"
The question was directed a Tsukune, quite obviously, who was a blushing and stuttering mess, due to finally seeing the girls' state of dress. He could now see why the crowd was so big. Idly, Mizore wondered if Naruto would have a similar reaction when he saw her in the maid outfit.
"W-well, we've been d-doing pretty good. W-while I d-did really want to see y-you guys, I also w-wanted to s-show Kyouko-chan here the r-rest of my f-friends." Tsukune was purposely averting his eyes all over the place, anything to keep him from staring at Kurumu, Moka, and Yukari and thinking about the costumes. However, the question from Yukari caused the boy to forget about that.
"Umm, who's Kyouko-chan, Tsukune-kun?"
"O-oh, she's my cousin," Tsukune answered the little witch a bit nervously. The girl, though, reiterated the question.
"No, I mean, where is she?" shocked, Tsukune turned around to find, indeed, his cousin was missing. The sight caused the boy to groan in despair.
"Not again. Where did she go this time?" the brunette looked up to see Naruto with his hand placed on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, we'll find her. Which way, Zetsu?" the blonde asked the twin-toned man, knowing he could sense a person's presence better than anyone in their current group. That was how they had found Kyouko the first time she had run off.
The man was silent for a moment before pointing towards an area near the woods. "She went off that way, about a quarter-mile into the forest."
"Well then, let's go!" for some reason, Naruto really liked the idea of tracking someone down. Brought him back to the days of before he returned to Konoha. Yeah, good times. However, in his good mood, the blonde didn't notice Zetsu's eyes widen.
"Wait! Another powerful presence just sprang-up right next to her. I suggest everyone arm themselves and we make haste." everyone was surprised. Zetsu never raised his voice. This must have come to a great shock to the man. Regardless, Yukari, Mizore, Kurumu, and Naruto took out their weapons of choice and quickly followed Zetsu along with Moka and Tsukune to Kyouko's location. They figured that they could leave the stand unattended for a while.
/
Kyouko had run the moment she felt the strange energy. The energy that had sent a tremor down her spine, the one that held a feeling of dread and death that she couldn't possibly hope to understand. She hadn't stopped to think why her cousin wasn't following her, or why, as she passed other sections of the fair, why the other people weren't running. All the girl knew for sure was that her life was potentially on the line if she didn't kick her ass into gear and book it as far as she could as fast as she could.
By the time Kyouko did stop, it wasn't because of exhaustion, she could have gone much further, but she didn't see the rock in her path and had ended up tripping over it. She threw out her hands to catch her, but still had a rather rough landing. Although, she supposed that she should consider herself lucky that nothing had happened to her leg or ankle worse than a light scrape.
Now that the adrenaline had worn off, though, Kyouko found herself very tired. Breathing heavily, the girl crawled up to a nearby tree and leaned her back against it, trying to collect her breath and thoughts. She didn't know what exactly what it was that she had felt back there, but she wasn't quite as afraid now. A bit wearily, she reached up and wiped a small amount of sweat on her forehead. She then allowed herself to just sit back and relax for a little bit.
Her relaxation didn't last long, however, as it was quickly replaced by curiosity. It just felt like something had just... moved inside her jacket. Cautiously, Kyouko reached a hand into her jacket and quickly reached into the internal pocket. When she removed her hand, she revealed a large envelope.
The girl looked at it curiously before the memory of how she got it hit her. Kyouko remembered being asked to deliver this envelope to the school by a mysterious person. She didn't ask questions at the time, considering that the person was actually helping her find her cousin, even telling her about the festival. But now, however, Kyouko had a desire to know what she was carrying, especially since she swore the package just moved in her hands.
Hesitating a bit, she turned the package over in her hands and undid the tie holding it closed. She then tilted it over and let its contents slide into her hands. What she found was probably the last thing she was expecting. Kyouko had expected maybe money, or documents, or pictures, maybe even drugs. If it had been the latter, she would have just tossed the package as far into the woods as she could, but, no, it wasn't drugs she had smuggled into the school.
Instead, in her hands Kyouko held a mirror. A well-crafted, oriental mirror. Idly, the girl wondered how long it had taken to get such detail into the work of art she held in her hands. However, another thought soon came to mind. Who was she supposed to deliver this too? Looking back at the envelope, she found nothing more inside, and there was nothing on the outside of it to indicate who it was meant for.
It was strange, but Kyouko turned her attention back to the mirror, again thinking it was shaking. And then, she looked into the mirror. Nothing happened and it reacted just like a normal mirror at first, reflecting her image back at her. However, then it started to glow, dimly at first, but it steadily increased in intensity, soon causing Kyouko to cover her eyes. When she opened them again, she was shocked to say the least.
A little, fairy-like thing was floating just above the mirror. She was dressed in a small, translucent dress and shined a kind smile down on Kyouko. "Hello," the fairy said in a light, airy voice. Kyouko just looked at it blankly as it bowed to her, still hovering in mid-air.
"Umm, hi," Kyouko awkwardly waved her hand in greeting as she regarded the fairy. This was different, the girl would admit. "So," she continued, a bit unsure of herself, "who are you?"
The fairy just laughed. "My name is Lilith, and I am the guardian of this mirror. However, you have freed my, and thus, have earned the right to one wish."
Kyouko's mood quickly did a one-eighty at hearing that, going from cautious to excited. "Really?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Yep," Lilith replied, a similar smile on her face.
"So I can wish for anything, right?" Kyouko received a nod. Her smile grew as determination welled up within her very being. "I want to reveal this school for what it really is!"
Lilith laughed. "Of course." the fairy then looked over into the trees from the direction Kyouko had come from. "We'll start with them."
/
Naruto and his friends quickly approached Kyouko's last known position, knowing that the girl could possibly be in danger. Tsukune, quite predictably, was pushing everyone to go faster. It wasn't long before the group broke through the trees to a cleared out area.
Most of them sighed in relief to see that the dark-haired girl was unharmed, causing Mizore and Kurumu to temporarily dismiss their weapons, but everyone was still on edge when they saw the fairy floating near her, smiling at them. Naruto got a bad feeling about this. "Well, looks like you're just in time. I think I'll start with you guys." Before anyone could question what was going on, Lilith snatched the previously unseen mirror out of Kyouko's hands. She quickly flew over to them, laughing as the mirror began to glow.
Everyone knew that something was coming, but they didn't know what. Most were blinded by the light soon enough and couldn't really do anything. However, Naruto wasn't just going to take this laying down. The blonde quickly grabbed Mizore and rolled out of the way with the girl.
As the light disappeared, they found that Lilith, too, was gone. However, there were slightly bigger problems that needed to be confronted. What was the problem? Well, everyone that had stayed in the light was now in their true form. Tsukune and Yukari seemed to be the only ones left unaffected. And to top it all off, Kyouko was standing not ten feet away, eyes wide.
And who could blame her? The man who she had been told only had a skin condition had just had his face dehumanized, grew a few inches, and had plant-like appendages sprout from his shoulders, the blue-haired girl with the large chest just sprouted wings and a tail, and the pink-haired girl had just had her womanly areas enhanced, her eyes turned red, and her hair turned silver. Really, Kyouko didn't have a reason not to stare.
"What's the meaning of this?" Moka asked rather indignantly. The rosary was still on, so it was understandable why she was confused. No one had an answer for her. Instead, more questions arose as Yukari and Kurumu both latched onto Tsukune and began rubbing themselves up against his person.
"Hey, Tsukune-kun," the blue-haired girl began in a sultry tone, "Why don't we go somewhere and have some fun?" the way that the girl said it caused a shiver to go up the boy's spine.
"I-i really don't t-think this it the t-time, Kurumu-chan." the girls ignored the stuttered response and continued rubbing themselves up against the boy. Moka looked on in disgust before she approached the girls and delivered a quick knock-out blow to each one.
"At least try to act serious, you pathetic vermin." Naruto just continued observing the situation, wondering what was going on. Obviously, it had to do with the light form that mirror, making the blonde glad that he had dodged out of the way with Mizore. The question was, what exactly happened.
He didn't have long to ponder the question, he heard Kyouko cry out and saw the girl cling to Tsukune, tears rolling down her face. "How could you Tsukune-kun? How could you involve yourself with these people?"
"W-what are you talking about Kyouko-chan? The boy asked, slightly nervous. She couldn't have found out, could she?
"Don't play stupid! I know exactly what these people are!" everyone tensed at hearing that. They wondered what to do, seeing that they couldn't just let the girl go knowing about monsters all going to a school. However, their fears were quickly put to rest at the girl's next hysteric statement. "How could you get yourself involved with the yakuza?"
Everyone just stared at the girl blankly as she continued to bawl into her cousin's shoulder. "You're... kidding, right?" Naruto just received a glare from Kyouko as he spoke everyone's thoughts.
"You're one to talk! I mean, you're the one with the sword!" Naruto looked blankly down at his side and indeed saw his wakizashi hanging there. She then pointed to Moka. "And you! You're obviously trained in unarmed combat! And these two," here Kyouko indicated to Kurumu and Yukari, "are concubines for Tsukune-kun!" finally, she pointed to Mizore. "And I don't know what she does, but it's still obvious that it has to do with some type of crime business."
Naruto stared blankly as Tsukune tried to convince Kyouko that they weren't yakuza. Secretly, though, Naruto would admit that all the evidence put out in front of them including how they were acting did have some similarities with the crime underworld, and it was understandable for someone who only knew what Kyouko did to come to that conclusion. Hell, if he had a tattoo, he probably could pass as a mob member. Wait. He did have a tattoo. Naruto quickly decided that Kyouko didn't need to know that.
However, everything was soon forgotten as the ground began to shake and nearby trees rumbled. Soon enough, a large black frog-like creature burst through the curtain of trees right besides them, sending splinters and shrapnel everywhere, though luckily not directly at them. Acting on experience, Mizore, Moka, and Naruto quickly got into fighting stances while Tsukune pushed his cousin behind him in an effort to protect her. Everyone paused, however, at hearing a voice.
"Come now, there's no reason to be acting like that." from over the top of the creature came none other than the bus driver. That made sense, of course. If someone could drive a school bus capable of travel through a portal leading to a place that didn't actually exist in the world, it was only reasonable that the same person could control a giant frog-like creature.
"You, explain what's going on." the bus drive turned to Moka, a grin on his face as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
"It's quite simple, really. I'm looking for the mystical item this girl smuggled into the school. You may know it as the Lilith Mirror."
/
Meanwhile, Lilith was flying around the school festival, turning monsters into their true forms and unleashing their true natures. The small fairy enjoyed the sight of everyone ripping each other apart or gaining up to destroy the school. Little did she know, so did the figure hiding in the shadows on the roof tops, looking down at the destruction she had helped bring. The figure laughed, thinking that this would also bring about the end of that damned human who ruined her life. Kuyou may have failed her, but this plan would work.
Shadowed woman aside, Lilith soon saw a giant crowd of people encircling a giant stage. Looking closely, she saw a single man on stage talking to the crowd as three other people walked away. She allowed a wicked grin to come to her face as she flew down behind the man. The shine of her mirror caught everyone's attention.
Lilith's smile just grew as her mirror glowed and everyone was blinded by a flash of light. As it vanished, everyone was now in their monster form and began to attack each other. Idly, she noticed that the crippled man was missing, but didn't really give it much thought. With that, she left to find the next group of people.
The rest of the musical soon came out of their enclosure at hearing all of the commotion. Everyone was shocked at seeing all of the visitors and students in their true forms mauling each other. They also noticed that Konjyoyaki was missing. They all assumed the worst, which was rather hard for Ruby, but nonetheless agreed that they needed to inform the headmaster of the developments.
/
"So this Lilith Mirror can reveal someone's true nature along with their true form and as we speak is probably wreaking havoc on everyone currently at the festival." Naruto had just summed up everything that been explained to the group by the bus driver. "In addition to that, the spirit of the mirror is going to return to eat the soul of the one who released it after it is done, in this case, Kyouko. That also explains why everyone is the way they are."
"Yep."
"No, this is bad," Tsukune said, worried about what was currently happening at the school and what would happen to his cousin. Suddenly, he turned to the bus driver, a pleading look in his eye.
"Bus driver, do you think you can watch over my cousin and unconscious friends while the rest of us go find the mirror and put an end to this mess. I don't want any of them getting hurt."
"What?" asked Kyouko. She may not have understood everything that was said, but she didn't want to be left out of anything. However, she didn't get a say in the matter.
"I'm not a babysitter, kid, but sure, why not."
"Thanks."
"That's great in all, but how are we going to find the mirror?" asked Moka.
Naruto just grinned. "Do you really need to ask? Zetsu?" the blonde was met with silence. "Umm, Zetsu?" the blonde looked around, only to find the man missing. "How long has he been missing?" Naruto received shrugs all around.
"Hate to break it to you kid, but he was gone when I got here."
"Shit," was all he said in response to the bus driver. He then sighed deeply, knowing what this meant. "Looks like we're just gonna' have to get lucky and stumble upon the mirror. And standing around isn't going to help. Let's get going." the blonde received nods as everyone began to follow him, leaving behind Kyouko, the bus driver, and the unconscious Yukari and Kurumu.
A bit cautiously, Kyouko tuned to the bus driver, still perched atop his frog creature, only to find the man looking at her with his creepy glowing eyes. "So..." she began, "What's with the eyes?" all she received was a grin.
/
Up on a hill over looking the school grounds, one person watched all of the events unfold. The person held no emotion on their face, as if they didn't even register the destruction going on not even half a mile away. That was because to them the outcome of the riot was inconsequential, because it was inconsequential to their master.
The figure let a small smile come to their face. According to him, they were the first successful subject their master had in a while. That filled them with a feeling of pride, knowing that they would stay to serve for a long time to come. The person quickly schooled their features, however. While outcome didn't matter, they still had a job to complete in the midst of the chaos.
Sickly green eyes narrowed as the owner noticed a figure on the roof of the school, watching, waiting, just like them. Though, they doubted that their presence there was as important as their master's goals. Another grin came onto the figure's face. They had just found their first subject. They would help fully run the test their master required on his creation. With that, the person started on their way to the roof.
Mr. N wanted to test his new formula completely, wanted to see how her natural abilities helped to administer it, wanted to see if its effects on her weren't just a fluke. Mr. N needed multiple subjects to be injected, and Mako was only too happy to oblige.
/
Naruto's group continued through the festival grounds, searching for the damn fairy with the damn mirror to fix this mess. Along the way, the group took out who they could using non-lethal force in an attempt to lessen the damage the school would face. It wasn't long before the group came to an abandoned part of the festival.
Everyone moved cautiously, their steps seeming louder than they actually were due to the unnatural silence that permeated the air. Not even the wind moved as the group moved through the area, everyone watching there surroundings, on the look out for the tiniest sign of movement.
A small shiver went down Naruto's spine. The blonde had a really bad feeling about this. However, he didn't find a reason to actually say that. Deep down, he knew that the thought was mutual. Suddenly, Naruto's danger sense went into overdrive, causing the blonde to bring up his blade.
And it was a good thing he did, as the sound of metal meeting metal came to everyone's ears, causing them to put their guards up. Turning their heads, they all saw Naruto deadlocked with a monster who's arm had turned into a giant mace. It was clear that Naruto's strength was giving out by the way his arm was shaking, trying to hold the attacker off.
Luckily for the blonde, Moka quickly came up and kicked the monster in the head, sending him flying into a booth which promptly collapsed on him. "Pathetic. I don't see why you couldn't have taken him yourself." the blonde glared at the girl's comment, but quickly noticed something. More monsters were coming out from everywhere, surrounding the group.
They quickly got back-to-back, keeping their distance as eight monsters of all shapes and sizes closed in on them. Suddenly, Mizore's voice cut through the tension. "Wait, somethings not right here."
"Your right. These guys haven't worked together against us at all until now. You think they're getting smarter?" asked Tsukune. Mizore, however, quickly put that idea to rest.
"Not that. Look at their eyes." everyone did, and came to a startling realization. As they looked into their opponents' eyes, they saw that they were all the same shad of green, the exact same shade. A shade that Naruto thought looked too familiar.
"Big deal, they have the same eyes. That won't save them." with that, Moka rushed forward, engaging one of the monsters. There was more to it than that, though.
'Wait,can't you feel that power. It is similar to that one you fought before... Yakasu.' Naruto froze at hearing that, shocked that whatever had happened to his old teacher had happened to these guys. However, the implications were even bigger than that. It meant that the cloaked man had done this. It meant that these guys had to be killed for their own good.
Knowing what he did now, the blonde made an announcement. "Guy's you need to kill these ones! I can't explain now, but keeping them alive is more harm than good!" predictably, Tsukune had a problem with this, but Naruto didn't care. Instead he rushed in, intent on killing these guys and putting them out of their misery.
Now that he knew that they needed to be killed, Naruto was having an easier time fighting, but it was still difficult. The blonde jumped back and used the brief break in fighting to tap into all of Kyuubi's chakra that he had time too. It wasn't much, but it increased his speed and power more than enough to get the job done.
Before long, the enemies all had blood gushing from them, all on the ground as life slowly left their eyes. Tsukune wasn't too happy about it, however. "Why was it necessary for them to die?" he asked angrily.
"They had the same problem as Yakasu." Mizore's eyes widened at hearing that, but the other two were just confused. Before they could ask, the girl just said that she would explain later. Before the group could continue on their way, a laugh stopped them. They all spun around, only to see a woman familiar to three of the friends.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't a bunch of brats." the woman grinned at them, showing elongated teeth. She was dressed in a simple white top with black pants and had her head wrapped in a bandana to cover her blonde hair. However, what caught Naruto's attention most was her eyes. The same green of the others that the group had fought.
"You!" said Tsukune, pointing an accusing finger at the woman who just continued to laugh. Mizore and Moka also looked at her with contempt, but Naruto was slightly confused.
"I know that this probably isn't the time, but who is she exactly?"
"Ishigami-sensei used to be the art teacher here at Youkai Academy. That is, until the newspaper club discovered that she was kidnapping female students and turning them into stone statues. We defeated her and she got fired. It was in the paper." said Mizore, all of her attention focused on the woman.
"Riiiiight, now I remember," said Naruto, not wanting the others to know that he had never actually read the school paper.
"You ruined my life!" Ishigami yelled, enraged at all of them, even if Naruto had nothing to do with it. The grin soon returned to her face. "But that's okay. Soon, this school will be nothing but a pile of dust, Just. Like. You. All because that stupid girl brought the mirror here."
"It was you who gave Kyouko-chan the mirror!"
"My, how perceptive of you," the teacher mocked, angering Tsukune. However, it seemed Moka had had enough.
"That's enough. We've defeated you once before, I'm sure it won't be that hard to do it again." with that, the silver-haired vampire rushed off and quickly appeared before the woman. She sent a kick straight for her head.
What happened next seemed to go in slow motion. Ishigami moved up her hand and actually caught Moka's leg, surprising everyone and causing the vampire's eyes to widen. Ishigami's grin just seemed to grow as the older woman the swung the girl around a few times and sent her right into a booth.
"Fool, I've grown much stronger since we've last met. You don't possibly stand a cha-AAAGH!" Ishigami was interrupted as a sword tore through her arm and was ripped back out again. Through the haze of pain, she saw Naruto pull his wakizashi back by the rope it was attached to.
"You talk to much," was all he said as he lapped the blood off of his blade. Usually, he wouldn't do this, but if this woman could toss Moka around like a rag-doll, Naruto wasn't going to risk it. Quickly, the blonde cut himself and let the blood drip to the ground. Before he did anything else, though he turned his head to Mizore. "Hey, take Tsukune out of here. Go find the mirror and get everyone back to normal. I'll protect Moka and take care of her," Naruto indicated to Ishigami, who was still clutching her injured arm.
"What? No, you need all the help you can get," began the brunette. He just received a glare from Naruto.
"Are you stupid or something? Your cousin's life is on the line; the fate of the school is on the line. We don't have time for all of us to be fighting this bitch. Now go!"
"He's right. We don't all need to be fighting her." everybody looked over to see Moka coming out of the wreckage she was thrown into, slightly limping. A grin soon came to her face. "Besides, the less people here, the less people I have to share this bitch with."
Tsukune clenched his fist as he thought over everything that was said. "Fine," he admitted. The two had good points, and they still needed to find the mirror. He looked over to Mizore and nodded his head. "Let's go." she started to follow, but sent one last look back at Naruto.
'Be careful,' she thought before running off. In seconds, they were out of sight.
"That was foolish." the two remaining friends turned to look at Ishigami. She was still holding her arm, but her smirk was back. "After all, you know what the say," as she said that, she began to change.
First, what seemed like snakes began to grow out of her scalp, thrashing and hissing. They continued to grow before they seemed to just envelop her body. Suddenly, they fell away and dispersed, revealing the woman had disappeared. "Hey, does this normally happen?" Naruto asked Moka.
The vampire shook her head. "No." Naruto narrowed his eyes, but began to get to work. He started to draw his symbol on the on the ground, and was almost done the triangle, before the ground gave a slight tremor. Looking up, Naruto didn't have time to stop the blow that sent him across the ground and into a pile of rubble.
Looking up, the blonde felt his eyes widen. In the spot he was just occupying was, what he assumed, Ishigami. Those snakes had reformed and had seemed to multiply, before coming back together and forming a giant snake about fifteen feet long and three wide. In Naruto's eyes, it was absolutely repulsive, especially since it seemed to pulsate with every move it made.
The creature turned its slit green eyes onto the due and seemed to grin before it hissed out, "There'ssss ssssafety in numberssssss!" with that, it launched itself at Naruto. The blonde quickly dodged out of the way, watching as the creature smashed down where he was not a second before. The creature just seemed to laugh.
That was, until, it received a super-powered kick to the back of its head, causing it to slam into the earth. It hissed in pain and looked up to see Moka, grinning down ad it. Seeing an opening, Naruto rushed back over to the symbol and quickly completed it. His skin quickly changed, and the blonde wasted no time in stabbing himself. He smiled in delight, but noticed something was wrong. There was no yell of pain.
Turning around, Naruto saw that the snake had no sign of damage whatsoever. In fact, it was smiling. "I'm afraid that trick won't work." with that, Ishigami went for another strike. Naruto was shock, too much so to move. Why hadn't his technique worked? It always worked!
He looked at the symbol and saw that it was done correctly, so what was wrong? When he looked back up, he saw that there was no time to move and prepared for the impact that was to come. However, what happened next was a surprise.
All he saw was a white flash, before the head of the snake flew off. What he saw caused his eyes to widen. It looked like a glowing orange orb right in the center of the snake, pulsating in tune with the smaller reptiles that made it up. His view of the orb was soon cut off, though, as the snakes that made up the head and body shot towards each other and seemed to reconnect, reforming the snake.
It hissed in rage and turned to its left. "Why you! I"ll have your head!" Naruto looked over to where the snake was looking, only to see Konjyoyaki. He stood from his crouch, ice blade shimmering in his hand. He turned to the snake.
"I'll have to pass, I'm afraid. Naruto, you saw it, did you not?" the man took the time to look at the blonde. "That's the weak spot."
The snake seemed to hear this and hissed. "Like hell I'll let you near it! You can't sssstop me!" it reared its head back and shot it quickly forward, sending out a grey glob. Konjyoyaki dodged out of the way and watched as it impacted the rubble behind him, turning it into stone. He turned his eye back to glare at the beast.
"Look at you! You're a bastardized version of what you used to be! Don't you even care that you aren't in full control?"
"Why would I? I now have the power to accomplishhhhh anything I desssssire! You are nothing but a free meal!" one of Moka's kicks sent the beast back, allowing Naruto to jump up and stab the beast in the eye and gouge it out, gaining an advantage and causing the beast to screech in tremendous pain.
It shook the blonde off and sent him flying into the air, a place where movement was limited. He watched as it opened its mouth, preparing to swallow him. Desperately, Naruto looked for help, only to have his eyes widen at seeing Konjyoyaki actually holding Moka back from helping. 'That bastard!' he thought before his world went dark.
The snake chuckled as it swallowed on of its adversaries. Soon, its saliva would turn him into stone before its stomach crushed it to dust. Greedily, it eyed its last two opponents.
Moka just looked at Konjyoyaki in obvious displeasure. "What were you thinking! We could have saved him and you let him die! What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Relax." Moka seemed about ready to yell at him, before he turned his gaze back onto him. "Just trust me on this." the snake noticed that its prey wasn't moving and took advantage. It got ready to turn the two to stone, but suddenly stopped. A blinding pain made its way through the snakes being, causing it to let out an ear-shattering squeal.
Moka watched as the snake started to bubble horrifically, expanding and shrinking, before it finally just seemed to implode and dissolve at the same time, sending green goo everywhere. Konjyoyaki quickly dodged out of the way along with Moka, avoiding the mess.
They watched as something rose up out of the epicenter of the mess, before attempting to wipe itself off, revealing Naruto. He seemed to glare at the man who let him be swallowed. "You fucking dumbass! What the hell were you thinking?"
"Hey, the things dead, isn't it?" he asked, taking a drag from his cigarette. Naruto looked about to retort, but he was stopped. "Your jobs done. While we were fighting the snake, I had Zetsu recover the mirror. Things should turn back to normal shortly, and your friends are probably all reunited. You should probably clean off and go see them, get Moka-san back to normal as well.
Naruto glared at the man as he turned and walked away. "Fucking bastard," he said before he too turned to find his friends and a place to clean off. Moka looked on, amused by the display as shown by her smirk, before following Naruto. That was rather entertaining, but she needed to return to normal as soon as possible. It wasn't good to remain like she was for long.
/
From the rooftops, Mako watched the events unfold, a frown on her face. It would appear that the formula still didn't work as intended for some reason like it did to her, and still caused the subject to mutate, even if it could grant the subject more power.
Her frown just grew deeper; she did have to report this to Mr. N, after all. He would be... displeased. However, she couldn't just keep this from him, she had a duty, one that she would complete. Still apprehensive on the whole matter, Mako began the journey to her master, unaware of the single orange eye watching her narrow as she left.
/
When all was said and done, Naruto knew that things could have gone better. Of course, they could have just as easily gone worse, but the blonde didn't really want to think about what that may entail. True to Konjyoyaki's words, Zetsu had retrieved the mirror and was with the bus driver and their friends, waiting for them.
Now in control, the bus driver had Lilith change everyone back, starting with them. As he left, Tsukune was once again confronted by his cousin, a serious look on her face. She said she really knew what this school was about now, causing people to start to sweat again. Of course, the fear was once again unfounded as she said it was obviously an acting school, and that they were doing a very good job. Seeing that that was going to be the best he would get, Tsukune went with it.
Once the whole school was back to normal, the chairman came out with the announcement. He said due to the damage the school had suffered, it was no longer safe for anyone to stay there and it would need to be put under heavy construction before it was a usable facility again. That being said, he continued by announcing that the students could stay one extra night to gather their stuff and say their goodbyes, but that the visitors should leave now.
So that brings us to the current scene. Naruto and Mizore were standing across from each other, their other friends having already left after saying their goodbyes. The two stood there, awkwardly. Naruto truthfully feared this day would come, and still wasn't sure what to do.
Finally, he just decided to go for it. "So... I guess this is the last time we'll be seeing each other for a while," he began, rubbing his head. "I'm really going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you to, Naruto-kun. I had wished we could spend a little more time together."
"Maybe we can." Mizore looked up at him curiously, causing him to think over his next words. "Umm, Mizore-chan, it's not much, but... would you like to spend the night together?"
The girl just looked on, watching the boy shift uneasily, a blush on his face. Slowly, she began to smile. "I would like that. Thanks, Naruto-kun." it was then that the blonde too smiled.
/
So the two had spent the night together, just sleeping in each other's arms. When the morning came, Mizore gave Naruto one last kiss to remember her by, soft and gentle, before she left to start packing, leaving her blonde boyfriend to do the same. It wasn't that hard foe him, he hadn't brought much to begin with.
With that done, he walked out of his dorm, left the key on the door like he was instructed, and began on his way to the bus stop. Along the way, he realized it didn't really matter where he went, it's not like he had had a permanent residence, he didn't have a job, nothing. In theory, he could just stay in the woods around the school and continue to train until he was a master of controlling Kyuubi's energy.
The blonde's thoughts were cut of as he quickly turned, thinking he had sensed something. He carefully analyzed the area before turning around, writing his feeling off as nerves. As he turned, all he saw was a black shadow moving towards him with speeds that made it impossible for him to block or dodge. He didn't even have a chance to brace himself as the shadow impacted with his head, fracturing his skull and sending Naruto crumpling to the ground, unconscious.
The shadowed figure that was left just seemed to look down at the boy, a sick grin slowly spreading across their face. Things were coming together perfectly.
/
And there you have it. I hope the ending was suspenseful enough for you, and if not, oh well. Now, as you may already know, I'm not going to update this story for a while, since I feel I've been neglecting my other readers. I also want to think the next part of the story out better. I already have the next two chapters, but I want to think more than that. So I probably won't update until October. Sorry guys.
Oh what's gonna' happen next? It's such a shame that you'll have to wait and find out, heh. You know, I just realized I've been on the sight for a year now, so I guess I should celebrate my anniversary somehow. Maybe I'll do a one-shot, but I don't currently have any ideas. If you want to see me do a one-shot and have an idea, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do. If multiple people do it, I'll pick the one I like most. On another note, fuck! Even after I edited unimportant scenes out and condensed some, I still couldn't get this chapter under 10,000 words. So, yes, this has been yet another chapter brought to you by your fellow author, Acolyte of Truth, totaling 13,090 words. See ya in 1.5 months, Acolyte out!