Hey everyone, got a new chapter here for ya'. First off, I want to thank Lykaos for being such the speedy beta he is. I would especially like to thank him twice as much, since looking back, I forgot to do that last chapter. On another note, I'm behind schedule. I had expected to at least be up to the doppelganger at this point, but I was obviously way off on my projections. However, the relatively slow pace is deliberate; kind of an expose, I suppose. Oh well, whatever it is, let's move on.

/

Disclaimer: I never intend to presume ownership over that which is not my intellectual property.

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Chapter 18: The Lengths of Gratitude

As with the year before, nothing much happened on the first day. They were all told that they were to remain disguised, and pretty much left to their own devices after that. Not so surprisingly, Moka, who had just wanted to hang around and catch up more with all of her friends, was dragged of by Yukari for something, leaving Tsukune at the complete mercy of Kurumu.

For the second time that day, it was only due to Naruto that he didn't suffocate, as the blonde made an off-handed comment that aggravated the blue-haired succubus. Kurumu was always on the defensive around Naruto. She had been ever since the Anti-thesis incident the year previous. The girl kept telling herself that the blonde had only done it with the best intentions at heart, that he meant as little harm as possible, that it was to protect them all. And he had redeemed himself by helping to take down Hokuto, but something still unnerved her about him.

Inside, she knew she forgave him, that she honestly knew that he cared for them all, but maybe that was the problem. Maybe it was just that her feelings were delusional, and Naruto really was some sociopathic bastard. After all, he was absent from the final standoff with Hokuto, and, sure, he was swept away, but she didn't believe that it was an underling that did it. She didn't want to be betrayed by someone she thought was a friend, she didn't want him to hurt her other friends, but she didn't want to be ostracized by them for going against Naruto, and possibly being wrong, losing everything. The best way to describe it would be a confusion fueled by anxiety.

In short, Kurumu was restricted to scathing comments masked as playful banter, hoping to get a message across to the blonde. And she could tell he understood the message loud and clear. 'Don't fuck with my friends, or you'll regret it.' and it seemed to end the same; Naruto would just narrow his eyes at her, but when he turned away, Kurumu could see him direct the anger at himself, and regard the outside world with a gentleness unexpected of him. It really played with Kurumu's emotions.

It was a short time later that Yukari came back, Moka no where in sight. Naruto thought that something was off about her, but played it off to the fact that he had had no human interaction besides Konjyoyaki over the last six months. The pink-haired girl had asked for Tsukune to come with her a second, to which the boy agreed to easily, a smile on his face. As the two exited the door, Kurumu narrowed her eyes at the scene.

Naruto paid it little heed and instead turned back to Mizore and Zetsu. "So, seeing as everyone else has gone, you guys want to find something to do?" Naruto was casual about the whole thing. Really, he didn't care if they went somewhere or stayed put, he just wanted to spend time with his friends. When he received two nods, the blonde shifted his eyes to Kurumu. He didn't know why he felt like he had something to prove to her, but he felt that he should at least be sociable and invite her along, especially since she seemed so lonely at that moment. "Hey, Kurumu," he called, gaining her wary attention. "You want to come with us?"

The girl eyed Naruto for a moment, still sitting down, and then slowly shook her head. "No, I'll be fine." Surprisingly, there wasn't any ill emotions directed at Naruto. She then stood up from her desk. "In fact, I'm going to go find Tsukune. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach." and with that, she walked past the group and vanished out the door. Naruto stared after her and then turned to Mizore.

"She really okay?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing the pensive look on the girl's face.

"I'm not sure. But I have learned that the feelings that she gets are usually correct, regardless, the best thing we can do right now is leave her be, let her deal with whatever problems she has. Besides, I don't think she likes you that much."

"And what gives you that idea?" Naruto questioned with slight sarcasm and a roll of his eyes. He chuckled a bit afterwards and led the group out of the room, leaving it empty.

/

The group of three was simply walking down a dirt path, talking about how there lives had been going. Or, at least, trying to. It was kind of difficult, but not for the reasons one would expect. They each trusted the others fully with their lives and were quite open with each other, even Zetsu, who thought it a bit weird since he was nearly twice their age. However, there were reasons that they kept information from their friends.

Sure, Naruto was open with all the training he did, even if it was boring just talking about it. The information he didn't reveal was what Konjyoyaki had talked to him about personally. It was mainly because he didn't think that he had a right to know anyway. It was because of that that he felt that he shouldn't talk about the man's troubled past.

There was one other thing the blonde neglected to tell his friends. That was his experiences with a car. Why is it that he withheld this information? Well, it was mainly Mizore that he didn't want to tell. You see, Naruto was planing something for the girl and wanted it to be a surprise; something involving his new-found ability to drive. We'll get more into this expenditure much later.

All Mizore would say was that she, too, had been training. She didn't get into specifics, citing that it was rather boring, especially when compared to the six straight months of hell her boyfriend went through. She, at least, had a few periods of relaxation.

What she didn't say, however, was who she had trained with. One person was Kurumu. While the girl wasn't that bad, Mizore had gotten the impression that Kurumu was trying to get her to lose some trust in Naruto. She felt that the blonde knew about the girl's dislike for him, and wasn't quite sure how he would react to that. The other fact omitted was the fact that Gin had trained them. It was fortunate that the boy had decided to kept his hands to himself around her, intimidated by Naruto as he was, but again, she didn't want to chance getting a reaction out of him.

Zetsu's reasoning was a bit different. He was sticking with the story that he had traveled around the world. And it was true. For the most part. The man had seen a few of the sights and customs he had observed, but not his intentions in going there. He had been asked by Konjyoyaki to gather information on where Mr. N may have set up base, since he was to preoccupied himself to search, and Zetsu could do it better anyway. The scarred man had doubts that the man was located in Japan, but still was likely to be a certain proximity to them. Zetsu had spent a month in each of six countries; China, South Korea, Australia, various Russian areas, and even western Canada and the United States, all countries within 6,000 miles and technological resources for N to perfect his work. His observations were far from extensive, and he had turned up no leads, but he was asked to keep the pretenses under wraps.

Everyone felt that their friends were keeping something from them, but didn't call the others on it, not wanting to be hypocritical or draw attention to themselves since the others no doubt felt the same. It was due to this internal distraction that none of them noticed the pair of eye watching them. Well, Zetsu probably did, but he wasn't paying attention to the individual and had dismissed them as a threat.

The figure regarded the group with the eyes of a predator, a certain blonde specifically. There was a palpable hunger to them, and eagerness, but no malice, almost as if they saw the situation as a game. Perhaps they did. Only they knew for sure.

As they slowly saw their target getting away, they surreptitiously moved up with them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They told themselves to be patient, that they had all they time in the world. They needed to calculate the moment to best catch the blonde by surprise. Suddenly, eyes widened, nostrils flared. A perfect chance had just presented itself. So, without a further moment of hesitation, the hunter sprung to catch its prey.

/

The attack caught the group by surprise. Even Zetsu's normally impassive yellow eyes widened a noticeable margin as he witnessed a figure pounce onto his blonde friend's back. Naruto was caught the most unaware, however, as he found himself violently pitched forwards as his head was bashed painfully off the ground. His two friends jumped away from him, anticipating a follow-up on themselves, but instead the assailant simply leapt off Naruto's back and waited.

Naruto, the surprise weight now gone, sprung up as fast as he could, worried that his friends may be in danger now that the mysterious attacker had now stopped focusing on him. The blonde spun and prepared to unseal his blade, when he noticed two things. One, his assailant seemed a bit abashed with all the attention on them, and, two, it was a girl.

She wasn't dressed in the normal school uniform; instead, she had opted for a sleeveless black top, a black skirt, and some heeled boots. Her hair was black and stopped just before her shoulders while her bangs just barely covered her eyes. From what Naruto could see, they appeared yellow. For some reason, he thought she looked familiar.

Seeing as nothing was happening, the blonde dropped his guard just a bit, his friends doing the same, as he asked the main question on his mind. "Hey, what the hell?"

The girl just looked down, a blush coming to her face. "I'm sorry, I guess I just got a bit excited. Please forgive me." As she said this, the girl bowed her head down low, further catching the group by surprise.

Mizore, though, narrowed her eyes. There was something about this girl that set her on edge. "Excuse me, but if you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

The black-haired girl looked over to Mizore, and, though it might have been her mind playing tricks on her, she thought she saw some disdain in those yellow eyes. The ice girl blinked, and it was gone. Instead, there was an embarrassed grin on her face as she awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Right, how rude of me. My name is Tenka Hotaru, it's a pleasure to make you acquaintance."

"I see." Truly, Naruto didn't. The whole situation was strange to him. However, he'd be damned if he ever let something like that stand in his way. "I'll ask again; why did you jump me? What's there to be excited about?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't in the mood for playing around.

The girl, Hotaru, once again regarded solely him. She clasped her hands n front of her and looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I wanted to thank you for saving me."

"What?"

"Naruto-san," hearing his name, the blonde turned to Zetsu, who chose this to be the first time he spoke since the girl had shown up, "you do realize what Tenka-san means, don't you?" the man only received a shake of the head, prompting him to explain. "Remember right after our first encounter with Hokuto-san?"

Naruto thought back, idly noticing Hotaru's reaction tat the name. Then, it hit him. He had ordered his clones to the hospital with the survivors. Only one of them actually made it. Last he heard, though, she was still rather critical. The blonde regarded Hotaru with a new perspective now. "I remember."

"That is good," she smiled. She then approached close to him, until the two were almost touching. This caused a wave of cold rage and a bit of possessiveness to run through Mizore, though Zetsu just looked on in intrigue. "Then I hope you don't mind allowing me to show you my gratitude." Hotaru's voice turned husky, and she began to run her hands across the blonde's chest as she said this, causing a shiver to run down Naruto's spine.

He quickly regained his senses, though, and his eyes snapped open as he snatched the girls hands, causing her yellow eyes to widen, especially when she saw the slight scowl on his face. "Don't touch me." It was then that he gently pushed her back. "For one, I'm already in a committed relationship. For another, I'm not the one you should be thanking; that would be Aono Tsukune. Had it been up to me, I probably would have left you there to bleed out."

The girl seemed to think about this. Finally, she shook her head in denial. "That doesn't matter. I remember the way you held me when I was blacking-out on the way to the hospital. I saw the concern in your eyes." Naruto debated on whether or not to tell the girl that it was just a clone,but concluded that it wouldn't make a difference. "I also respect that you are with someone you love," here, Hotaru chose to spare a glance back at Mizore, "but that doesn't mean that I don't love you back. It just means I'll have to prove my affection for you. But for now, I'll give you some space." and with that, the girl walked away, a feeling of dejection surrounding her.

The group of three just looked after her. When she was far enough away, Naruto spoke his thoughts out-loud. "Damn, first day and shit's already getting complicated."

/

"And here I thought Aono-san was the polygamist of your group."

"Shut the fuck up," replied Naruto, growling a bit at the sarcasm. The three had been successful in tracking down Konjyoyaki to get his advice. They had found him walking down the hall, seemingly being casual with Ruby, something that caught everyone by surprise. Konjyoyaki wasn't casual. And why did Ruby seem to be blushing?

In order to fend off the inevitable questions, the crippled man told the witch that he would catch up with her later and pulled the group aside into a nearby, empty classroom. It was there that Naruto told him what had happened with Hotaru, looking for a solution to this problem. As the blonde spoke, he couldn't help but notice the slightly sour look on Mizore's face.

Shoving his hand into his pocket, Konjyoyaki retrieved a new cigarette, tossed his old one, and lit it. He then turned his orange eye onto the blonde. "And what do you want me to do about it, exactly?"

"Well..." Naruto began dumbly, not even quite sure himself they chose to seek out this man, "I was hoping for some advice on the situation. Any pearls of wisdom that you could part with."

it was then that Mizore, uncharacteristically, interrupted. "We want to know how to get her to to leave us, Naruto-kun especially, alone. At the very least to get her to give up her trying to seduce him."

"Again, how the hell am I supposed to help? What makes you think I have any experience in something like this; in matters of love in general?"

"I guess I just thought..."

"Exactly, you thought. You may think you know me, but, in truth, you don't. Don't get ahead of yourself."

Mizore and Naruto looked down, a bit ashamed that they jumped to conclusions and all but demanded a man for help when he claims to know nothing about this. However, both looked up when their companion spoke up. "And what about Toujou-san?"

Konjyoyaki's head snapped to Zetsu, and his eye narrowed just a bit. "That is none of your concern." His voice was grave, telling them not to question it. "Besides, I always chose business before pleasure, you should know this above all else, Uzumaki. Why don't you try Aono-san? He's in pretty much the same situation, and he seems like he's fine. Ask him for advice."

"We tried. One, that would be much more humiliating," Naruto began before being cut off.

"Your just strengthening my point. You could use a little humility." Naruto just ground his teeth.

"Two, we can't seem to find him."

Here, Konjyoyaki's eye narrowed dangerously, and a slight frown marred his face. "Well, then, I can safely say that someone is bullshitting you." He was looking pointedly at Zetsu, which the other two noticed. They turned to him and asked about it.

The man remained as composed as always, starring right back at Konjyoyaki. "I couldn't seem to detect him. He has so little energy, and it's constantly masked by the residual energy of the youkai here." Konjyoyaki's frown turned into a scowl.

"Which should make it all the more easier for you to find him. His signature sticks out because of the fact that he's human, even more so due to the Holy Lock. It purifies his ghoul-self, making it that much easier to locate. Akashia-san is much the same, only her vampire signature makes both unique and powerful, even when masked. You no doubt know this." the man then paused and closed his eye, concentrating. "Yeah, there they are," he said, opening his eye again. "Near the edge of the school grounds. You probably barely need to focus, since you're better at this than me. Hell, you you knew where they were the whole time didn't you?"

Zetsu didn't answer, but he held his ground.

The cripple turned Mizore and Naruto. "You two, go."

"But..." the blonde tried to protest, but he just received a glare.

"Now," he growled. The two shot glances at Zetsu, but he just kept on staring at Konjyoyaki. Wearily, they left. When he could no longer feel them, the man in white began. "You'd do best to remember where your loyalties lie, Zetsu."

"I do," replied the green-haired man. "They only lie to you by proximity, though, as Hidan-san believes in your goal. By default, so do I."

"Then you understand that you shouldn't cross me. You know what I'm capable of, and you know that's not even the full extent of it."

"That may be true, but the same could be said with our positions switched. You may win in a full on fight, but how injured would you be? How much more of a cripple?" Zetsu's voice was scathing, and one could tell that his thinly veiled threat would be backed up with action if provoked.

Konjyoyaki's eye narrowed even further. "For your sake, you'd better hope it doesn't come to that. However, I trust that you will keep your word."

The man didn't answer as he made for the door. As he was passing Konjyoyaki, however, he stopped and said one last thing before exiting. "I will continue to obey you, for the good of your cause. However, the moment you sacrifice Uzumaki-san, the moment you give him up for a scapegoat, the moment you cause him harm, physical, emotional, or mental, for no direct benefit of him, including harming his friends, my friends, I will no longer follow you, Hidan's wishes be damned."

As he made his exit, Konjyoyaki made one last jeer at him, smirking and not even bothering to look his way. "That is fine. You will no longer be needed by then, if my plan works out." And with that, Zetsu left, and Konjyoyaki found himself talking to himself his smirk twisting into a bitter, forlorn grin. "Heh, friends? What a noble ideology. Unfortunately, there is no room for nobility or friends in a shinobi's life."

/

"So, what do we do now?" asked Naruto, as he and Mizore slowly walked around the campus. Both were in a dreary mood, the problems they were having weighing heavily on their minds.

Mizore just shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. We could try to look for Tsukune-san and them, but I'm not sure how successful we'd be. Maybe we could find Gin-sempai, but I don't know how that would help us much." Then, all was silent as the two thought about what to do. Suddenly, "I wonder how Zetsu's doing."

"I'm sure he's fine," the blonde replied, putting a smile on his face. It was clearly fake, though. Truthfully, both were worried by the prospect of what Konjyoyaki may be doing to him. Both were also wondering what the man's outburst was about, as well. "I guess we can't really do anything except hope for the best." Naruto winced as he said that. Why was he hoping, again?

"Really makes us sound useless, huh?" the blonde didn't respond as the two started for the dorms.

/

Mizore and Naruto bid each other a good bye when they got to the girls' dorm. The two, still in their respective funks as they were, really only wanted to sort out their thoughts on their own for a while. Well, really, it was only Naruto who wanted to sort it out by himself, but Mizore didn't object, since she didn't really want to argue, and actually figured a bit of solitude would help her better regain her bearings.

Mizore soon found herself in front of her door. Despite it only being the first day, she was already repeating habits from the previous year, including keeping her key taped to the top of her door sill. Abiding to the pattern, she quickly checked the hall to ensure no one saw where her hiding spot was, reached up, grabbed the key, slid it into the slot, turned it to the right, heard the faint click, removed the key, and placed it back into its place before opening the door and entering her dorm.

As she closed the door behind her, though, she was set immediately on edge. Something was wrong. When she had gotten there earlier that morning, she had dropped her bags off and just left them just inside the dorm. Now they were gone. Eyes narrowing, she crouched down, and cautiously began sneaking around, so as not to alert a possible intruder to her presence if they didn't already know she was there.

After a bit of tip-toeing around, which Mizore thought was absurd, (hell, anyone would; who should have to sneak around in their own home?) she eventually came to her room. The door was closed and the light was on inside.

Steeling herself, Mizore grasped the handle while forming an ice claw on her free hand, so as to fend off any potential attack. Then, taking one final moment to ready herself, she pushed open the door and rushed in. she stopped, though, when she realized no one was there. However, her bags were on the bed, causing the girl to remain suspicious.

She flicked off the light and exited the room, preparing to do one final sweep of the place, even if it was unlikely she missed anything. It was obvious that she had, however, as she turned and noticed a figure lounging on the couch in the living space, causing her to tense up. "Finally found me, huh?" the voice floated through the dark room and reached Mizore's ears, eerily familiar.

The purple-haired girl's eyes narrowed for what must have been the tenth time that day as she regarded the individual. "Tenka-san," she began, making sure to keep her voice calm and steady, giving away nothing and as cold as the ice she controlled, "Why are you here, exactly?"

"Oh, I just want to talk, if it wouldn't inconvenience you, that is." Inconvenience her? The psycho bitch broke into her home! That constituted as inconvenient, didn't it? Regardless, Mizore wanted to prove that she wasn't intimidated, and kept a cool head.

"That is fine," she said, approaching Hotaru's shadowed figure. "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you." She then ushered Mizore to the couch, "Come, sit."

"I prefer to stand, if that's all right."

"Fair enough." As the two faced each other, both were thinking of their next move. Their goals were similar; how to best get their point across without provoking the other into attacking and not being the one to attack themselves, retaining the civilized image they had cultivated. But, they also wanted the other to slip up, in this challenge of pride. It was a game; no, a puzzle. A mix between the two. Perhaps chess, though minesweeper would probably be a better analogy.

For a while, the two just chose to stare at the other through the darkness. Neither one wanted to break the silence, but, since she actually had a purpose and a stake in this, Hotaru was the first to crack. A small loss.

"I assume you know what I want to discuss with you."

"I do. This is about Naruto-kun, is it not?"

"It is." There was another silence, this one much more brief. "You love Naruto-kun, do you not?"

It was an unexpected question, but nonetheless, Mizore answered without missing a beat, "Yes, I do."

"Then I hope you can understand why I, too, love him." Hotaru's voice was laced with both pain and admiration, something the yuki onna didn't fail to notice. "For the longest time, I was alone. Throughout the whole first year of the academy, I had no friends, I was an outcast more than anything, and there was no apparent reason to it. I didn't see much point in life. Then, last year, something happened. I joined the student festival committee and met Hokuto-san." here, the girl's voice held a touch of bitter-sweetness to it, but, before Mizore could think about it, it was gone. "He chose me to be his assistant, and I thought that I had finally found a place where I was wanted. The warmness he gave off, the kindness in every little thing he did, I don't know how to explain it. But, just like that, it was all gone, as that same man I thought I loved cut me down, his eyes that used to be so warm, instead cold and mocking. I was ready to die."

There was another pause as Hotaru let the other girl absorb what had been said. Truly, she had never imagined what it must have been like for the girl. Stranger yet, and something that made her sick to think about, both because of how bad the memory was and how similar it was to Hotaru's own situation, she had experienced having her heart broken when she was younger. It wasn't time to reflect though, as the story needed to be continued. "Go on."

"I had lost my way, I had all but given up, but just as my darkest hour seemed ready to consume me whole, a radiant figure seemed to swoop down and rescue me, both from my attacker and myself. He took me so I could get better, and I'll never forget the warmness in his blue eyes, the same as Hokuto-san used to show, but something that he tried to keep hidden, just like his worry. It was just so much more real. He saved my life that day, and gave me purpose. I know that you see the same in him, and I know that you think I'm evil and all trying to get him to love me as well, but I just want you to see it from where I stand." As she finished, she wearily began to walk towards the door, giving Mizore time to think.

And, unfortunately, she could see where the other girl was coming from. Naruto may not have been perfect; he was violent, was part of a shadowy religion no one seemed to ever hear of, wasn't even from their plane of existence, apparently, and, yet, he would die (or, you know, his equivalent of dying, whatever that may be) to protect those he cared for, enjoyed life and spending time with aforementioned loved ones, and, most importantly, loved her. That, in turn, did make him perfect in Mizore's eyes.

And, the sad truth was, that with her pressure to find a husband, in some alternate reality, she could see herself fighting over a man someone else loved, and who may have loved them, if he showed her the kindness and companion ship she so desired like Naruto did, almost like the situation with Yukari, Moka, and Kurumu. She could imagine herself in Hotaru's shoes.

That horrifying thought caused her to shiver a bit, but she caught herself as she heard the door being opened. Just as Hotaru was exiting, Mizore spoke up. "I understand where your coming from. I will say one thing." Both parties turned to the other as Mizore spoke her proposal. "I will let you get close, you can have the chance to befriend Naruto if you so wish it. However, you aren't to make any moves on him, unless he allows you. In short, I'm allowing you the opportunity of earning your keep. There are no second chances, and the moment you break these rules, or the moment he rejects you completely, it's over. There are no second chances."

for a moment, Hotaru stood there I n the door way. Then, she just smiled, the lights from the hallway showing tears welling up as she turned away. "Thank you," she said in a faint whisper, and then left. Back in her dorm, Mizore was wondering just how this would turn out.

/

It was the next day when the Mizore and Naruto met up again. The former decided to not tell the blonde about what had happened the previous night, both to give Hotaru the most natural chance, and because she was still unsure if she had done the right thing. She had basically agreed to allow the girl to try to turn her boyfriend into a polygamist, or, worse, dump her for Hotaru. Of course, Mizore knew that wouldn't happen. Naruto wasn't like that.

They were both still worried about Zetsu, though, as neither one had received any word from or about him. It was quiet unnerving, and weighed heavily on both, especially since classes officially started today. It was a lot to deal with.

Fortunately, that load was lightened a bit, as the man in question finally showed himself to Naruto and Mizore as they neared the school. Excited, they nearly ran up to him, asking what had happened. To their concern, he just brushed the whole thing off, citing that it was nothing to worry about, he just had to think about a few things. When they tried to press him for more information, he just told them to drop it.

Suspicious, but respecting their friend, they complied and continued walking towards the school, meeting up further with Tsukune and his little harem, which he was reluctant to own. They, two, were silent about their misadventures from the day previous, but it was more of an awkward silence. Just as well, since they weren't to apt to talking about Hotaru, even if they were bound to find out.

Speaking of which, Mizore wondered when the girl would make her move. While it was true that she had agreed to give her a fair chance, what would the outcome be? Would the dark-haired girl turn on her, saying that she had allowed her to have a chance with Naruto? Would he accept Hotaru? So many questions, but Mizore knew that she had to have faith in Naruto and push all of these insecurities to the back of her mind.

However, she couldn't seem to do that, especially when the day was passing so monotonously. A lot of the stuff they went through in class was review from the last year, or a miniscule amount of building on what they had last learned. Hell, even Moka's and Kurumu's arguments between classes weren't entertaining enough to keep her mind wandering to the possibilities.

As per usual, the succubus would flaunt her ample breasts while Moka would try to sustain the innocent image. However, she could tell that the pink-haired girl longed for the competition, Zetsu probably could too, and maybe even Naruto, if he was paying attention, but she couldn't stay focused on that.

However, near the end of the day, something occurred that finally seemed to take her mind off of all the negative worries that seemed to encompass her her thoughts. The interruption came in the form of a tiny flier, saying that fourth and fifth period would consist of a survival training. Internally, Mizore could help but grin, especially at seeing the excited look on Naruto's face. This may be just what she needed to take her mind off of all the stressful things currently going on. If only she knew what the coming weeks would bring.

/

And thus, it is finished. I shouldn't have to tell you that this is my last update of the year. Also, the last section did not go through Lykaos, but I thought it was a better place to end. So if the last section lacks the quality of those previous, that's why. On a random note, a few awkward occurrences have recently happened to me. My parents, who are a little older than forty, have started watching Tosh .O, because I lacked the foresight to not leave the t.v. on Comedy Central. If you're familiar with the show, you'll understand why this is awkward. Of course, that's not saying much for, since I've also seen movies like The Hangover, the Harold and Kumar movies, and Knocked Up with them. Still, the sentiment remains the same. Also, don't to forget to vote for my next story in my profile. As incentive, I've both raised the vote count, and added story previews. So vote, damnit!

What is this survival training about? When will Hotaru make her move? What could possible happen next? You can't even imagine. As I final note, I'm hesitant to claim Hotaru as an O.C.. True, in the manga, she had neither a name or personality, but she was still there. So is she more of an expanded canon? Have I created a new categorization for characters? Then let it be said that Tenka Hotaru is the first ever E.C.C.. Of course, I can't fully claim that, either, since I'm not sure if anyone else has done this before. If you have an answer to this question, please contact me, and if you don't know who Hotaru is, she was one of Hokuto's followers. This has been another chapter brought to you by your fellow author, Acolyte of Truth, totaling 6,059 words. Happy National Hangover Day!