Mistakes in Blood

by Acolyte of Truth

The last thing Naruto remembered was a feeling of blinding rage, and in a flash of red, he left all he knew behind. Or so he thought. It seems that Naruto's mistakes have followed him to this new world, and will stop at nothing to ruin his life again.

21. Pride, Anger, and Regret

Hey. So, yeah, this is out late. A full two months behind schedule. Why? Because I had a plan for this chapter, and refused to stop at opportune times in favor of writing it out fully. As a result, this chapter is over 17,000 words. Goddamn it! I said I wouldn't be writing that much any time soon, and this is why. Lykaos deserves many praise for this, both for putting up with how long this took me, and going over the unedited version. I'm sure there are still errors, but this was a lot of content to go through, not all of it exciting. But I'm rambling now, so let's just get to it.

/

Chapter 21: Pride, Anger, and Regret

(Outside the Dungeon):

Whilst Konjyoyaki was preoccupied doing who knows what with his enemies body, Naruto, Kokoa, and Mizore made their way to the surface and began their trek to the infirmary to meet up with the others. There was a shared silence between the three, as they each reflected on what had happened.

Naruto, who knew the man better than the others (though that wasn't saying much), was surprised that he was actually capable of caring for another person. In fact, if he hadn't seen how distraught the man had seemed when realizing he was facing off with this 'Taiki's' killer, Naruto wouldn't have believed it. He also seemed rightfully upset that the only connection to his students was now gone. It was... strange seeing the man worry for the safety of others. While it was true that he probably also cared somewhat for the blond himself, it was only because Naruto could help Konjyoyaki achieve his goal of killing N for whatever reason he may want the man dead.

Mizore, though, only really knew the man as a teacher, and not as a manipulative asshole like her boyfriend did. Therefore, she wasn't as overtaken by the concern he showed for his friends, despite what Naruto had told her about his apparent self-serving nature, but was instead concerned with his merciless nature. As a teacher, he really didn't care if his students passed or not, leaving it up to those who fell behind in his lessons to figure it out for themselves, but she never thought he had such blatant disregard for a student's physical well-being. The way he had manhandled Tsukune was... frightening, to say the least, and while it was true that at the time Tsukune was a danger to everyone including himself, the girl couldn't help but think Konjyoyaki had beaten him just so the boy wouldn't get in the way of his fight.

Kokoa, though, had absolutely no experience with the man, thus didn't know what to think of what she had seen. Was he normally the one to jump into situations like that? Was it surprising to see him beat a student like that? Wasn't he a teacher? Speaking of which, what was wrong with the boy he beat? From what she had seen so far, Tsukune was a wimp, so how had he knocked down that wall? Why did he charge the criminal? It was confusing.

Instead of trying to work it out herself, she turned to the people she was beginning to consider friends and asked, "Hey, what happened back there? That Amami-sensei, is he normally like that?"

Naruto and Mizore shared a glance, having not really expected the girl to break the silence, though not particularly surprised by it either, and not really knowing how to answer. Regardless, Naruto soon came up with an answer.

"All you need to know about Konjyoyaki is that you shouldn't trust him. As a teacher, he knows what he's talking about. As a person, if you aren't even somewhat useful to one of his schemes, you're seen as collateral at best. He usually doesn't meddle in our affairs, I'm not even quite sure what he was doing there, but as you've seen, he's dangerous, and he'll pretty much get whatever it is he wants. You'd do best not to cross him."

Kokoa was a bit surprised that the person she actually was afraid of was saying someone else was dangerous. She had seen Naruto jump in to help Konjyoyaki, and the blond had seemed perfectly capable of taking the criminal on before being told to stay out of the conflict. So, why did he seem to be slightly cautious of the man?

"Dangerous? The man could barely stand halfway through that battle. Sure, he seems competent enough, he is ruthless from what I've seen, but he's also crippled in more ways than one."

"Don't be a fool," Naruto warned, a bit annoyed at how ignorant Kokoa was being. "True, years of chain smoking have pretty much destroyed Konjyoyaki's lungs, but not his mind. If you underestimate him, he won't tire out by virtue of him taking advantage of your ignorance. And he will play tricks on you in battle if you let him just to make it that much simpler."

"Whatever," the ginger replied, not really able to take Naruto seriously, but keeping what he had told her in mind.

"I still don't see why you hate him do much," replied Mizore, drawing Naruto's attention back to her. "I mean, yes, you have a past history with him, but I haven't really seen him be manipulative. Brutal, yes, but he also seemed stressed during that fight, so I'm willing to attribute his beating of Tsukune-san to that. Besides, didn't he train you during our absence?"

"True," Naruto shrugged, "but it was to further his own means. As for stress, yeah, it was clear he wasn't totally in it, but he still would have dealt with Tsukune on a normal day, albeit more efficiently."

"Speaking of which," Kokoa interjected, once again drawing all attention to herself, "what happened to him? Onee-san seemed worried for him, and the power I felt coming off of him felt... wrong. He also busted though a wall, which doesn't seem right. What kind of monster is he?"

Naruto had a good laugh at that, even if it did bring up bad memories of how he had hurt Mizore, as someone thinking Tsukune was any kind of monster was laughable to the blond. He sobered up though, as the story was a serious one, though a small smile stayed on his face. "Here's the thing; the reason Tsukune was like that was because last summer..."

He was stopped form continuing as Mizore jabbed him in the ribs. She knew where he was going with the story and during his pause, she supplemented with, "It's against school policy to reveal one's true form to other students or faculty."

Kokoa looked suspiciously at the two for a moment. She saw as Naruto shot Mizore a questioning glance and how she just shook her head in return. "That's not the problem is here, though," she concluded, eyes narrowed. "I have a feeling fighting is against school policy, yet apparently your group all has experience with it, enough that members of the faculty would ask for your help in finding a criminal. No, there's another reason why you won't let him continue."

Naruto was also a bit confused. Sure, telling his story may or may not reveal Tsukune was human... well, was once human, but he was technically somewhere in between there and ghoul now, so it shouldn't have been much of a problem. What was the reason then?

"Maybe it would be best for Moka-chan to tell you," Mizore finally suggested, further confusing Naruto. He was definitely missing something here, and he wanted to know what.

However, it seemed that Mizore's answer had succeeded in placating Kokoa for the time being, and as such, she soon took charge in leading them to the infirmary. This let the couple fall back and have a private discussion.

Dropping his voice to a low whisper, Naruto asked, "What was that about? Why would Moka be a better choice for telling her about Tsukune?"

"You don't know much about the culture of various races. As I'm sure you can tell, vampires are particularly prideful, and one of the reasons behind that is their pure-blood nature. They see the mingling of blood with other races as a great offense. That includes a vampire giving someone their blood."

Realization dawned on the blond. "So by saving Tsukune's life the way she did, Moka disgraced her family?"

"Not just her family, but her entire race. And, given Kokoa's obsession to see her 'Onee-sama' returned to full glory, you can see the problem with this."

"Wait, then why did you tell her that Moka could give her answers? Won't that just make it harder on them both?"

"Sorry, but I was too busy making sure you didn't ruin their relationship to really think the whole thing through," Mizore shot back.

"Then we need to think of something to make her forget about the whole thing, at least temporarily."

"Do you have any ideas?" Mizore asked, a bit worried as they came ever closer to the infirmary. Looking around, the blond kept an eye out for something, anything that could slow them down and give them more time to plan. That's when he noticed Kokoa seemed to be walking slower, almost as if trying to concentrate on something. That's when it hit him. The ginger discovered that they were whispering, but probably couldn't make out what they were actually saying.

Turning back to Mizore, he mouthed, 'Follow my lead,' to her, receiving a nod before continuing in a louder whisper than they had been using, sounding a bit annoyed, saying, "Why won't you just let me tell her?"

Mizore followed suite, replying, "I told you, this has to do with vampire tradition."

"Like I care," scoffed Naruto, letting a small grin slip onto his face. "She obviously loves him, why shouldn't they get married?"

By now, it was clear Kokoa was paying full attention to them, straining to hear all that the two were saying. And by now, Mizore had a semblance of an idea where Naruto was going with his plan.

"Well it's not going to be made any easier for them if the truth comes out. I told you, vampires are very prideful, and marriage between them and anything but another vampire is usually out of the question, as is the case with most monsters. Even then, some exceptions can be made if it's a union between two strong species to strengthen both families, though that's rare. But marriage between Moka and Tsukune would be unheard of."

"Why, because Tsukune is a boundary being?"

"Aha!"

The sudden shout drew the couple's attention to Kokoa, who had spun around to face them. Both had to withhold satisfied grins at the girl's triumphant smirk.

"So that boy is some sort of boundary being? Probably some sort of telekinetic or something. Unacceptable! Onee-sama will never be married to such a lower class being! I will not allow her honor to be ruined in such a fashion!"

"But wait," Naruto half-heartedly protested, mentally beaming because his plan had worked, "they both share feelings for each other. Isn't that what really matters?"

"No, such a thought is out of the question," Kokoa retorted, putting on an annoyed face at such a notion. "Besides, Onee-sama could never actually love such a weakling. It must be the rosary messing with her head. I have to find a way to remove it, and fast."

With that, Kokoa sped off towards the infirmary, leaving, Mizore and Naruto behind to finally let out their laughter.

"Wow, I can't believe she actually believed us," said the blond. "You were great."

"It was all your plan, though," she replied, turning to him and placing a gentle kiss on his lips, causing a large smile to form on his face.

"Yeah, I'm great too. Together, though, we're awesome."

"I have to wonder, though," she continued, stifling a chuckle at Naruto's antics, "won't Kokoa's meddling get in the way of their time together?"

"Not anymore than the meddling of the others," Naruto shrugged. "Besides, we can keep her occupied some of the time. Speaking of which, we should probably catch up to make sure she doesn't injure Tsukune anymore than he already is."

Then,without warning, the blond swept Mizore off of her feet, eliciting a small gasp from her before he ran to catch up with the young vampire.

/

(Infirmary: Tsukune's Room):

Naruto was easily able to catch up with Kokoa and 'escort' her to the room, making sure she wasn't about to just bash through the door and assault Tsukune when Mizore asked the receptionist where he was. It also meant that he held her back when they did get to the room and tried attacking the surprised boy. In the end, he handed her off to Zetsu, who just held her up by the scruff of her blouse as she demanded to be put down, kicking and flailing her arms all the while.

"What's going on?" asked Tsukune from his bed, eying the girl. He was heavily bandaged, Naruto noticed, including having some gauze wrapped around his head and his arm in a sling. The blond would later learn that along with the lacerations, Tsukune had received a concussion and sprained his arm, which was pretty good all things considered.

"Not much," replied Naruto, approaching him and the girls crowded around his bed with Mizore at his side, "the runt just thinks you're some kind of boundary being who wants to marry her sister."

"What?"was Tsukune's reply, caught between embarrassment at being told someone thought he wanted to marry Moka (who was also flushed with embarrassment), and fear at being told the same person probably wanted to kill him and thought he was probably more powerful than he really was.

"And why does she think that?" asked Kurumu, becoming angrier than she probably was previously at seeing the reactions of Tsukune and Moka.

"We... may have told her," the blond supplied, rubbing the back of his neck with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Why would you do that?" cried Tsukune, violently sitting up and cringing at moving too fast before being eased back down by Moka, who reiterated the question.

"What reason could their have been to tell her such a thing?"

"Hey, she was asking questions about what she saw back there, and it was better than the alternative of telling her the truth."

"Basically it's the difference between her wanting to kill you and just maiming you," Mizore supplied.

"That's not helpful," Tsukune whined.

"What's with you?" asked Naruto, becoming annoyed. "I figured you'd be happy with not being dead. I don't remember you bitching this much last year."

"Wait, I'm confused with what's going on," Hotaru said. "Why would you need to tell Kokoa-chan that Tsukune-san was a boundary being if he's not?"

Yukari helpfully pulled the girl aside to explain the events of the previous summer as the main conversation continued, this time with Ruby asking a question.

"So what exactly happened down in that dungeon. Apparently Konjyoyaki-san attacked Tsukune-san after he went into his ghoul form? Then what? Where is he now?"

"Who cares?" asked Kurumu, clearly still mad with the man. "What he did to Tsukune-kun was over the line. He didn't deserve that."

"You're rather ungrateful to someone who saved your friend's ass, you know that?"

Everyone turned to the source of the voice to see Konjyoyaki limping into the room, clearly tired form his fight.

"You," Kurumu growled out, storming up to the man as he leaned himself back against a wall for support. The man eyed her dispassionately.

"And for someone who initially just wanted a scoop for your paper about the criminals, you're lucky your club president was there to snap some pictures as the surviving criminals were carted away."

Most people caught the word 'surviving', leading them to instantly regard the man with trepidation, but Kurumu wasn't one of those people. Instead she forcefully grabbed the man by the front of his jacket and pointed to Tsukune.

"Look at what you did to him! What would possess you to do that? What makes you think you can just waltz in here and-..."

She was cut off as Konjyoyaki puffed on his cigarette and then blew smoke in her face nonchalantly, sending Kurumu into a coughing fit, the smoke making her eyes water. Regaining her breath soon after, and now fully enraged, she pulled back, ready to punch him in his smug face, before she was pulled back by Moka.

"Come on, Kurumu-chan. I need to go calm Kokoa down, and I could use some help."

The blue-haired girl looked at Moka, seeing that she was clearly worried. Surveying everyone else in the room, she could see they were also worried for her safety, several ready to intervene if need be. Finally, she cast a glance over to Kokoa, who was still flailing in the air and who had apparently missed all of the last five minutes, before sighing and letting the cripple go, dragging her friend behind her to retrieve Kokoa and finally leaving, sending a nasty glare behind her at Konjyoyaki as she went.

There was a moment of silence after the three had left, as everyone just stared at Konjyoyaki. They were surprised by his recent actions; even Naruto and Zetsu were caught off-guard. They knew how disagreeable the man could be, but it was unheard of for him to act in such a manner around others, going so far as to intentionally provoke someone who was rightfully upset.

It was Ruby who stepped up and confronted him on his actions, asking, "Are you okay, Konjyoyaki-san? What happened in that dungeon?"

"Not much. Dealt with some issues from my past, killed a guy, relieved some stress, then got rid of an annoyance as soon as I got here. A good day, all in all."

Again, quite a few people were surprised, this time with how the man had so easily talked about killing a man. They had thought he was just a teacher, one who had taught at an academy full of monsters, yes, but he was still just a teacher. The past issues he had talked about were also something most people could only wonder about.

"I-... I wanted to thank you."

The silence was once again broken, and this time all attention was turned to Tsukune. The boy's head was down, and he balling the sheets with his one good hand hard enough to make his arm tremble.

"You stopped me from going on a rampage. I couldn't control the power, and who knows what might have happened if you didn't stop me? I know most people may not understand that and be angry with you, so I guess I'm sorry for that too. I just want you know to appreciate what you did."

Although, Tsukune couldn't see it, as he continued to speak, Konjyoyaki appeared more and more annoyed, up to the point of actual anger once the boy had finished. "If you want to thank me, don't waste time with pointless, drawn out apologies, and rationalizing by placing the majority of the blame on yourself. You can't truly think yourself so important that you believe everything is somehow your responsibility."

"But I-..." Tsukune began, looking up in surprise at the man's words.

"No, instead of doing everything I just told you not to, stop being some damned bleeding-heart messiah figure and think of what you need to do to control your power so someone doesn't need to step in again."

Tsukune looked down once again, unsure of how to feel with what the cripple had to say to him. Yukari wasn't going to have any of it, though.

"Why did you come here anyway?" she asked. "If it wasn't to apologize or receive thanks, then what? Or do you just like being a jackass and shooting down whoever you can?"

"I came by to make sure I didn't kill the little dumbass and, provided he was still alive, make sure he wasn't being a whiny little bitch. I swear, self-sacrificing types like him are the worst, constantly needing to be set straight. Besides, shouldn't you be getting back to your club activities or something? Registration is in a few days; you should be planning accordingly."

"Come now, I'm sure that their club leader doesn't mind too much. Besides, don't we still have some preparations to make?" chastised Ruby, causing Konjyoyaki to grunt before the two of them left. With the six of them left, things grew quiet once again. Nothing to talk about came to mind, and Tsukune still seemed to be contemplating what Konjyoyaki had said.

Eventually, Naruto did speak up, suggesting, "Come on, Tsukune probably should get some sleep, and Gin is useless without us. We should go."

"But Tsukune-san has a concussion. Sleeping is the last thing he should do," Hotaru argued.

"That's besides the point. He clearly has some thinking to do," the blond continued, walking to the door, followed by Zetsu. "Let's leave him be for now. We can visit him later."

With that, the two of them were gone, Mizore, Yukari, and Hotaru following shortly after them once they bid Tsukune a goodbye. He didn't respond, choosing instead to reflect on everything that had happened recently.

/

(Two Days Later):

The room that housed the newspaper club was in a festive mood. Having spent the previous day writing up the article on the Slasher and his gang hiding out in the dungeon, along with finishing up a few miscellaneous columns, they had completed the first paper of the school year. Gin, of course, took credit for the front page story, having taken the pictures of the criminals being carted away, even though he knew that it was due to the efforts of the others that they were apprehended in the first place.

"So we're going to give these out later today when we scout for potential members, right?" asked Hotaru, leaning back in her seat, taking a sip from her drink can.

"That's the plan," Yukari answered her. "This should get us some good publicity with the freshmen."

"Yeah, you guys did great," Tsukune said, a smile on his face. He had been released from the medical facility, under the directive that he didn't get into any overly stressful situations, as his body was still weak from the beating he had received. He was told that he may experience bouts of vertigo, and that if it got too bad, to return to the medical office. He also had to keep his arm in a sling and splint for two weeks, which was an inconvenience, but not a terribly detrimental one.

"What do you mean? We all played an equal part in putting this paper together."

And with that, Kurumu began to smother the boy with her large assets, apparently not understanding the 'minimize stress' directive.

Naruto just stared at the spectacle, knowing the routine to a fault at that point. After that, Kurumu, Yukari, and Moka would get into a small scuffle. Tsukune would try to stop them. They would fawn over him. Something would interrupt them. Knowing that, he wasn't too engaged with what was actually happening, and instead focused on Tsukune. There was something off about him. Maybe the concussion had affected his mental state,but more likely than not, Konjyoyaki's reprimand had revealed something to the boy. In ant event, he didn't seem as earnest as he once did, and his grins seemed to be hiding something. He probably just needed time to work things out, though.

"I don't see why you're all celebrating."

Naruto and his group turned their attention to Kokoa, who was sitting in a corner near them, a sour look on her face. She had been present when they had worked on the paper, and was surprisingly a bit helpful in its production, taking an executive position and, unlike Gin, giving criticism that was easy to follow up on.

Hotaru just laughed and tossed a juice can to the red-head, saying, "Lighten up. Everyone's just happy that Tsukune-san is okay and that we got a paper out. You helped with the latter, too, so enjoy yourself."

Kokoa was caught off-guard by the projectile and barely caught it, fumbling a bit before hand, before turning and angry gaze over to the girl. "That's not the point. We wrote a story on how there was a group of criminals hiding on campus attacking students and that they were apprehended. There was added detail, yes, but nowhere was there mention of our direct involvement, the death of one of the men, or the intervention of one of the teachers. Instead, we say we confronted someone responsible for dispatching the gang who would prefer to remain nameless. That's not even adding the fact that there is no mention of the students who went missing during the gang's occupation. How can you get away with withholding so much of the truth?"

"You fail to understand how our club operates."

At some point during Kokoa's rant, Gin had made his way over to the group and had overheard the ginger's complaints. Everyone turned to him, expecting a sarcastic quip or some bullshit piece of advice, but seeing his serious face, immediately knew that wasn't the case.

"We don't want to implicate our direct involvement with these matters because it's bad publicity. Eventually, people would begin to think we're lionizing our members or acts of violence required to protect the academy's integrity. Normally, I wouldn't want to publish something like this in the first place, but it's such a big story it would be too suspicious to not mention it. In essence, we omit some details so we can be seen as reliable, which we are. It may not make sense to you, but try to understand. As for the missing student bit, though, that was Zetsu's decision. Tell me, why didn't we include that?"

Gin and the others turned to the giant to hear his answer. Gin's logic made a bit of sense, but it was hard to understand the reasoning behind of Zetsu's editing. In response, the man said, "Quite simply, we didn't actually come across any student or their remains. While we can assume that the gang was behind their disappearances, we don't have any proof of it. Given that they are, in fact, alive, and are just indisposed, there is no need to worry the other students or ruin our reputation if they do return, however unlikely that is."

"Fair enough," Gin replied with a nod, signing off on Zetsu's decision, even if it was to late to rectify it if he hadn't. The boy then opened his mouth, prepared to say more, but was interrupted by the door violently swinging open, revealing Nekonome, the club supervisor.

The violent intrusion, while making everyone pause and look to the door, wasn't what took most people by surprise, though. It was the fact that Nekonome had stumbled in, carrying what appeared to be a bottle of champagne, and dressed-up in a cheerleader's uniform with 'Newspaper Club' written on the shirt.

"Nekonome-sensei?" asked Tsukune, causing the woman to turn to him and act as if she had just noticed everyone was there. A confused look was quickly replaced with a smile.

"Ah, I found you. Good, you're celebrating. You deserve it."

Giggling, the woman did a twirl, he skirt lifting up a bit and following. No one was sure what to think exactly. They wouldn't get the chance to ask, though, as the woman soon continued.

"To celebrate the production of the first paper of the year, I got you something that will help recruit some new students into the club later."

Naruto and several others weren't very trusting of the apparently drunk Nekonome, but really didn't have any recourse other than going along with the woman.

/

(At Club Registration):

Most of the student body was gathered around the inner courtyard of Youkai Academy, either trying to attract potential members to their club displays, or perusing their options in respect to the former. Of course, there were upperclassmen with no intention to join a new club walking from display to display to avoid avoid having to work at their own displays.

There were many clubs to choose from, though a few got more attention than others. For example, the sports clubs were good at garnering attention from the student body, and so was the swim club, even though they had been put on probation the previous year for misconduct. And then, there was the newspaper club.

A massive crowd had surrounded the stand, with everyone trying to push ahead to the front where the members were handing out papers. Though that wasn't the reason for the uproar. No, that was due to Nekonome providing the female members costumes like her own to wear. That was pretty much the sole reason many of the men were gathered around. And, while some members were fine with this, knowing that it was definitely attracting attention to the club and getting the paper out there, others would not be as easily placated.

Kokoa, for one, was livid that she had been forced to participate with the other girls, especially considering that she wasn't even officially a member. It was more than that, though. She felt shame at being forced to wear such revealing clothing in front of people she didn't know, being stared at by all those eyes, and treated as little more than eye candy. It was disgraceful.

It didn't help that the girl had previous confidence issues, and wanted little more than be seen as strong and earn the respect of her sister. So, when people started making comments about how cute she was, especially when blushing, she couldn't take it any more. Dropping the papers she was holding, Kokoa took off, using her skill to jump above the crowd and find a secluded space to calm down. Yukari took off after her, concerned, as did Hotaru, the latter figuring that since she had spent a bit more time with the girl, she could better get to the root of the problem.

With those three gone, the crowd closed in closer to the remaining girls, bringing the ire from the other individual who didn't agree with the uniform directive. Naruto didn't like all of the horny little shits gathering around Mizore, though the girl herself didn't protest about having to wear it, so the blond kept his concerns to himself. It also helped that the outfit was quite flattering and that Mizore would constantly turn back to him and wink or blow him kisses. Needless to say, Naruto was just as captivated as pretty much any other male there.

However, the other reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her was because of all the other guys there. He had to remain vigilant to ensure no one tried to pull anything. Of course, in retrospect, Naruto realized that he was being foolish; he only cared for Mizore's well-being here, dedicating his attention to her, even though he knew that she could handle herself if what had happened a few days previous was any indication. Then again, he supposed he would defend Moka and Kurumu as well should some hapless pervert try to cop a feel, granted someone raised the alarm and alerted him.

The thought process stopped there, however, as he noticed a suspicious character approach Mizore. The girl turned to him and handed over a paper, which he accepted with a small smile on his face. He said something, which Naruto couldn't hear over the sound of the crowd, but the blond could see the looks on both his and Mizore's faces, overconfidence and disgust, respectively. With that, Naruto began to make his way over, quickening his pace as he saw the kid lean in close to whisper something to the girl.

Mizore quickly turned away from the student, ready to hand out papers to other students, only to have her wrist grabbed by the persistent boy. Seeing this, Naruto began to run forward, yelling, "What do you think you're doing?" and attracting the others' attention. At the same moment, Mizore acted, spinning and locking the boy's arm behind him as she delivered a punch to his kidney, causing him to release her due to both the sudden pain and crumple to the floor.

By that time, Naruto had made it over, and quickly asked Mizore if she was alright. She nodded in reply, saying, "I'm fine, thanks."

Pleased with the answer, at least for the moment, the blond gave is full attention to the boy, who was just rising to his feet. Gasping and holding his side, the student saw Naruto and said, "You, you're in this club, aren't you? You need to control that bitch and teach her some manners!"

Registering what the boy had said, Naruto barred his teeth and violently grabbed the student by his collar. "That's my girlfriend, you worthless fuck!" he growled out, decking the boy in the face and sending him sprawling back to the ground with blood flying from his mouth. The blond then reared back to kick him, only to be grabbed from behind by Gin and Zetsu, giving the student enough time to crawl off in fear.

Gin then shoved the blond fully into Zetsu's arms, making sure the giant had a good hold on the struggling boy, saying, "Get him out of here! He's scaring people off!"

"No! Let me get that bastard! I'll teach him some respect!" Naruto shouted, still struggling. Seeing that he wasn't going anywhere fast, Mizore approached, cupped the blond's cheek, and placed a soft kiss on his lips, calming him down almost immediately from shock if nothing else.

"Relax, Naruto-kun. As you've seen, I can do a good job of protecting myself."

Seeing no reason to keep holding him, Zetsu set his friend back down on his feet. now free, the blond turned to Gin, glaring as he said, "If anything happens to Mizore-chan, you die first," before returned on his heel and made his way through the crowd, Zetsu following close behind as students quickly parted to let them through.

Gin just held his face, sighing as he wondered aloud, "What is wrong with the people I surround myself with?"

(With Naruto and Zetsu):

"That asshole," Naruto mumbled as he and Zetsu weaved through the crowds surrounding the club displays. The blond wasn't all to concerned with what other clubs were offering, as he had no intention of leaving the newspaper club, or Mizore, as it were.

"Which one?" asked Zetsu, causing his angry friend to turn to him, now slightly confused.

"What?"

"Who's the asshole you're talking about? The guy you nearly killed, or Gin, who made you leave?"

"They're both assholes," Naruto grunted, "but that shit-stain we don't know is the one who has me pissed off."

"Have you considered tai-chi?"

"What?" Naruto asked again, this time turning to fully face Zetsu. The man's questions were catching him increasingly off guard.

"I was sent with you to keep you away from our stand and to calm you down. From what I understand, tai-chi is supposed to be very calming and trains both your body and your mind."

"And how would you know that?"

In response, Zetsu pointed over Naruto's shoulder. The blond followed the hand, turning to find a small stage with just a few people surrounding it. On the stage was another small group, each moving in slow synchronization with one another. The booth near the stage also had a banner on it, summing up almost everything Zetsu had said.

Before Naruto could take anything else in, he began to be dragged to the stage by Zetsu. "Come on, you might enjoy it."

By the time they got there, the considerably small crowd had shrunk even more, and though the people on stage didn't seem to mind, the student in the booth seemed just about ready to fall asleep from lack of stimulation. He perked right up when he registered two strange people, one being dragged behind the other, approaching him.

"How can I help you?" he asked, a strained smile on his face.

"I'd like to sign my friend up for a lesson," Zetsu responded.

The student in the booth looked around the man to see the blond flailing behind him, yelling, "Let me go, dammit! I didn't agree to this!"

"You mean him," he asked Zetsu speculatively.

"Yeah, he's a bit angry, but I understand you may be able to help him with that."

"Well, of course, we allow anyone who wants to the option to learn the first few forms of tai-chi free of charge. Then again, it usually requires the consent of the applicant."

Nodding, Zetsu placed Naruto on his own feet and said, "Look, You need to calm down, but you don't need me here with you to do it. So just take the lessons, lighten up, and enjoy the day. See what the school has to offer. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, fine."

"So you'll actually do it?" asked Zetsu, suspicious with how little resistance Naruto was providing.

Naruto just nodded, and while the giant still didn't really believe him, the whole point was that he didn't want to feel like he had to babysit an angry Naruto and get caught up in his emotions. So, instead of arguing, the man just turned and walked away, intent on keeping himself occupied during Naruto's banishment.

When Zetsu was out of sight, Naruto began to walk away, only to be stopped by a voice.

"You should be grateful to have such a friend."

Confused, the blond looked around, certain that the voice had been talking to him, but seeing no one around him. Then, he noticed a person on the stage. The person was watching Naruto intently, yet had neither stopped nor slowed in his routine in the slightest, retaining his synchronization with the others.

Seeing that he was finally being paid attention to, the group member continued with, "He accepts you for your faults, as I'm sure you do for his, even if they are not all clear to either of you. However, he wishes for you to calm down; he feels that you are to rash and both act and react too quickly for the good of anyone, as it were. He trusts you to tackle this problem on your own after some prodding, or just feels that to watch over you constantly would wound your pride. In either event, it shows he cares for you and wants to help with your anger issues."

"Oh really?" asked Naruto rolling his eyes. "And how would you, who has never met either of us, know this?"

"One who chooses to train their body and mind equally, one who trains to open their eyes, can pick up a lot of information from body language and social reactions. For example, you appear to be a fighter, if the slight bulk your muscles create is any indication. While your knuckles aren't bruised and without obvious scarring, that could be due to anything from wraps to conditioning. Maybe you just kick. All in all, you carry yourself as a fighter. However, your mind is far from clear. While I can only begin to imagine what you think about, I can tell that the current majority causes anger, both from actions and mistakes past and present... and now you show regret, something else that-... oh, never mind, the anger is back. However, the question remains: will you allow me to show you how to help harvest your anger into something better implemented in everyday life, or continue to be angry and disappoint your friend?"

For a while after, Naruto just glared at the man on the stage, not sure whether to tell them off or just walk away. In the end, though, the blond just heaved a sigh and resigned himself to his lesson.

"Fine, what can you show me?"

"First, join us up here on stage."

Naruto readily complied. The man had stopped by now, allowing the others to keep going as he focused on getting Naruto up to speed.

"Now, take this stance and do as I do. The thing to remember is to go slow, and try to feel your energies moving around inside your body."

(With Zetsu):

"I must admit, I'm impressed. King Protea is extremely difficult to grow outside its natural habitat. However, it appears just as it should; its colours are right, its of a healthy size, and it doesn't appear to have been artificially altered in any way. You've taken painstakingly good care of this specimen."

"Thank you for saying so, Sir. I appreciate that you are able to see the true value of what would so easily write off."

Zetsu smiled at the cute brunette running the stand. It was by pure coincidence that the man had run into a booth for a new gardening club, though one Zetsu took in stride. He was pleased to finally meet someone who appreciated plants for their true worth, or at least enough so that they took pleasure in growing the more difficult breeds. The old gardening club, if they could truly be called that, cared for little more than getting high and making a profit, which was one of the main reasons that he had no trouble turning them in. besides, he had managed to smuggle a few of the more delicate plants back to his dorm before everything else had been seized, so it wasn't all bad.

"Please, call me Zetsu. No need to be so formal," the man responded. "So tell me, what made you interested in starting a gardening club?"

"Oh, well gardening has always been a hobby of mine, I guess. I grew up around a bunch of exotic plants, and my father kind of got me to help him take care of them, and I just sort of had a knack for it. When I got here, I heard that there had used to be a gardening club, but it was disbanded for one reason or another. So I got permission, and a bit of land, to start a new own. In fact. Most of the plants and seeds I brought with me from home."

"I see," Zetsu said, leaning on the counter, fully engaged in the conversation with this stranger. "So tell, me, what other challenging plants have you grown in this climate?"

"Well, I do have this," the girl said, reaching under the table and replacing the King Protea with a smaller plant with red petals growing from a white stick with dark purple bulges at the ends.

Zetsu's eyes widened a bit at seeing it, more than a little surprised to see such a flower. "Is that..." he began to ask, only to have the girl confirm his suspicions.

"Yep," she said, a large smile on her face, "it's a Sturt Desert Pea."

"May I?" Zetsu asked, reaching for the plant. The girl nodded cheerily, prompting Zetsu to carefully grasp the fragile pot that housed the plant and bring it closer to his face for further examination. "And you grew this from germination onwards?"

"Actually, that's the fourth generation I've overseen by myself," she responded, a bit abashed at the attention she was receiving, especially considering she only expected a few visitors, none of whom that would actually understand the care it took to properly maintain these plants.

"Now that's impressive," Zetsu remarked, a grin now splitting his own face. "You clearly know what you're doing."

"You seem to know a lot, too," the girl remarked, returning the compliment. "You know, I actually have a project that I've been working on, but could use a little help with? Would you maybe be interested in coming over later and checking it out?"

"I don't see why not," he responded, preparing to set the desert pea back on the counter. However, that was before he was shoved roughly from behind by a small group of people rushing by, yelling something to each other that he couldn't quite make out. That didn't matter, though, as the violent motion had knocked Zetsu to the ground, face first, not that the group cared.

The girl running the stand did, though, as she hurried over to Zetsu to help him up. "Are you okay?" she asked, though he could only look to the ground, where pieces of shattered pottery, soil, and a crushed flower lay.

His hair hid his eyes, and his mouth was a solid line, as he asked in a crisp voice, "How much?"

"What?" asked the girl, not quite understanding.

"The Sturt Desert Pea, how much would you say you would have sold it for?"

The girl looked at him for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. "Come on, that wasn't your fault. Besides, I have more samples, I can always grow another.

"How much?" asked Zetsu a final time, his voice growing darker and scaring the girl into giving him an answer as he rose to is feet.

"Uh, I don't know, six-thousand yen?"

With a calmness ill-befitting of his inner emotions, Zetsu reached into his pocket, retrieved a wallet, and placed the stated amount in the confused girl's hands.

"Wait, why are you so insistent of paying for this?" she asked.

"Because now it's my problem," Zetsu simply stated, his voice returning to its previous state as he stalked off after the ones who had angered him.

(Back with Naruto):

Turning behind him to wave at the tai-chi group, the blond walked down a stray, sparsely populated path, a content smile on his face, feeling more relaxed than he could ever remember being. He wasn't quite ready to fully accept the calming power of tai-chi, but he would be willing to visit the club again for further instruction if he felt his rage begin to boil over in the future, if only to ensure he didn't do anything irrational and scare his friends.

Still, all that mattered at the moment was that he was feeling good about himself for the moment, and it would take a bit to bring him down. Of course, he could still be easily confused, and soo

n became so, seeing something further down the path that caused him to rub his eyes in an attempt to make sure he wasn't imagining this. He saw Hotaru and Yukari, which itself wasn't all too unnatural, even if it was a coincidence that he would run into them, but they were also looking at something, which appeared to be Kokoa beating down a pair of what appeared to be karate students. It only appeared that way though, because for one, Naruto didn't remember the red-head being taller than Hotaru or as... developed as this person was, and also, while the students were wearing training clothes, the defense they put up against their assailants assault may as well have been nonexistent.

Curious, the blond approached his peers, not trying to be particularly stealthy, but apparently being quiet enough to cause both Hotaru and Yukari to jump as he asked, "What's going on?"

"N-Naruto-kun! Where did you come from?" asked Hotaru, spinning around to meet the boy's crystalline gaze, only to see he wasn't really paying attention to her, but instead to the beatdown.

"Who's that?" he asked, pointing to the ginger who had by now finished dolling out punishment and instead moved on to gloating.

"That's... well, it's Kokoa-chan," Hotaru responded, unsure of how else she could put it. She expected her blond love interest to get worked up over it for one reason or another, but instead,he just retained his serene, contemplative look, not really showing any emotion.

"Uh-huh," he responded, still not looking at the ones he was talking to, "and why is she... the way she is... physically, at least?"

At this, Yukari looked down and began to make circles in the dirt with her toe, a bit embarrassed at being found out, or perhaps scared that Naruto found out and his expression was unreadable. In any event, the blond didn't see this, and as Yukari noticed that he wasn't rally concerned with their involvement, she was soon able to answer with, "I may have made something that caused her to age a bit."

"I see," Naruto said, walking passed the two girls to instead question Kokoa.

The young vampire hadn't really been paying attention to anything outside of her small scuffle and the feeling of victorious euphoria it brought her. Her little world was shattered, though, as she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder.

She spun around just as the person asked, "And what have you been up to?" only to see it was Naruto and relax a bit, letting an elated smile occupy her face once more.

"Oh, you know, just taking out the trash," she replied, casting a glance at the pair of whimpering students as she did so, giving them a vicious grin. Turning back, she saw that Naruto's face was pretty much devoid of emotion, something that usually would have given her pause since he usually seemed very emotive from what she had seen. However, she was still on a power high, so instead of asking why he seemed out of character, or why the blond was even there in the first place, she chose to follow up her previous statement with, "And I'm going to beat my way to earn Onee-sama's affection. She can't ignore me then. How would you like to be my next conquest?"

The question was met with a blank stare from Naruto, and off to the side both Yukari and Hotaru had to hide their faces in their hands due to how futile the challenge was, given the obvious power gap between the two. However, before Naruto could just write the girl off, and before she could just attack him, a voice sounded from behind the blond.

"He'll have to get in line."

Looking in the direction of the voice, everyone saw that at some point four more people had arrived, each of them dressed in karate uniforms like the students Kokoa had pretty much destroyed. The apparent leader of the group was a blond like Naruto, though his eyebrows were distinct due to their size.

"You did well to take out two of our members, but that's no reason to get cocky."

"Oh, really?" Kokoa asked, smirking at the new arrivals. "Is that a challenge I hear? Well bring it! If you can beat me, I may consider joining you!"

Under different circumstances, Naruto may have asked Kokoa if this was a goo idea, or maybe have stepped in just for the sake of a fight, but instead he just stepped back, wanting to see how this would play out.

"Hah, you're a brave one!" the man laughed, before becoming more serious, his grin becoming predatory. "I like that."

Kokoa returned the grin, ready to charge him, but just as she took a step forward, something happened. There was a slight puff of smoke, and the the red-head was smaller. She wasn't her normal size, though, having shrunk to the point that she was now smaller than Yukari. Her clothes didn't shrink with her, though, her now over-sized skirt falling to the ground one of the straps on her top falling over her shoulder, leaving her rather revealed.

Shock had immobilized both the karate club and anyone that would give Kokoa aid, leaving the smaller than usual girl wondering just what was going on. "Hey, why are you all so tall?"

It was then that she took stock of herself, noticing how small she now was, and how exposed. Hurriedly, she took up her skirt again and tried to cover herself as best as she could, embarrassment growing and tinging her cheeks a deep red like her hair.

"Yukari, what happened? I though I was supposed to grow! You said nothing about shrinking down this much!"

While Kokoa complained to Yukari and the young witch tried to assuage her worries, Naruto figured it time to step in. "As you can see, she isn't really in any position to fight anymore. You might want to try again later."

In turn, the leader of the karate group gave Naruto a blank stare, before flashing him a smile. "Don't worry," he chuckled, "I wouldn't dream of harming a child. But if it's all the same to you, I still want to intimidate her a bit. Think you could help me out?"

"How so?" Naruto asked, cocking his head, and seeing nothing wrong with showing Kokoa that she shouldn't get so ahead of herself in the future.

"Your name is Uzumaki, isn't? Gin has mentioned you in passing."

Naruto nodded a bit, now wondering how this person knew Gin and why he would bring this information up at this time.

The other blond's smile just grew. "Great! In that case, this may hurt a little!"

Before Naruto could register what was said, he saw a fist flying at him. He attempted to block, expecting the punch to connect, but instead, the fist stopped a few inches from his body. The force carried by the punch continued onwards, though blowing Naruto back into some nearby foliage, only stopping when he impacted a tree.

"Asshole," Naruto growled out, picking a twig out of his hair, "could've given me some warning. If I see him again, I'll... no, deep breaths, calm down. Need to be rational. I won't disappoint Mizore-chan or Zetsu with outbursts anymore."

/

(With Zetsu, not so far away):

Yellow eyes narrowed as he watched his prey, saw them scurry about, unknowing of what was waiting for them. He had yet to make his presence know, preferring to savor the hunt, to study the carefully, to strike when the moment was right. There were three of them.

"Come on, where is he? He has to be around here somewhere!"

"Maybe he's in the more populated areas. Why would he be all the way out here?"

"He's a social misfit, a delinquent. He doesn't like interacting with others. He's probably loitering about around here somewhere."

"Why are we doing this again? It seems like a waste of time."

At that, the smaller figure, the apparent leader, turned to the larger follower who had spoke out. Grabbing him by the collar, he reached back and smacked him in the face, sending the larger figure to the ground.

"He humiliated me, made me seem weak. I'm not weak! Do you think I'm weak?" he started to yell, prompting the other two to shake their head vigorously. "I didn't think so. We have to show him that."

"In that case, why don't we check the woods?" asked the other follower. "He may be hiding somewhere in there."

Agreeing, the small group wandered into the woods, causing a gleam to appear in Zetsu's eye. He disappeared after them. He waited for them to wander adequately deep into the wooded area before striking, swiftly and decisively.

He began by sneaking up the one who had stayed closer to the back of the group, the one who had suggested they look in the woods for their own query. He simply applied pressure to his neck, cutting off his access to oxygen and fresh blood, knocking him out while making sure to keep him quiet. He simply let the limp body fall to the ground when he was done. There was no satisfaction in taking him out, he wasn't his real target, but it minimized the risk. He felt the need to assure himself, this wasn't about the plant, that itself was salvageable. No, it was much more primal, something he couldn't explain. He had an idea, but the implications of it were something he didn't want to face. No, unfortunately for his targets, they had just inadvertently angered him with their carelessness.

"Why did you suggest this again? This was a horrible idea!" the leader complained. He expected a mumbled apology from the one responsible, but nothing came. Turning, prepared to demand for an apology, he saw a person missing. "Wha-Where'd he go?"

"How should I know?" asked his other companion, still not completely psyched about being out here in the first place.

"Well find him! Look over there!" he was ordered. The boy sighed, but complied.

He turned and started walking back, on the lookout for his friend. He didn't really like the woods surrounding the school. They were hollow, but hard to get around if you were specifically looking for something in on on the other side of them, almost as if they had a mind of their own, and it wanted to keep you inside itself for as long as it could. It didn't help the there were random sounds with no apparent origin, nothing to cause them. It made him want to leave all the more.

He soon stumbled upon another person though, their back turned to him, but even so, it appeared to be his friend.

"Hey," he called out, causing the person to turn around, and confirming that it was his friend. Or looked like him, at least. It caused relief to wash over him, in any event, as he wasn't alone anymore. "Come on man, the boss is waiting for us," he continued, approaching, the person also getting closer.

He had let his guard down, not that it was really up in the first place, and was easily taken by surprise when the person he thought was his friend grabbed him by the back of his head and then rammed his own into his face, breaking his nose. His hands rose up, both out of pain and to stem the flow of blood, further leaving him open as his head was then forced downwards, his chin slamming against the person's rising knee. That was apparently enough to send him into unconsciousness, as his body just fell, held up only by the person still holding him by the back of the head. With that, Zetsu let both his disguise, and the body, drop. One more person to go, the one he really wanted.

"Damnit, where is everyone?" the leader yelled out, seemingly to himself. He figured that his two followers had gone soft on him and had just left, leaving him to both find and deal with his target on his own. It's not like he needed their help in the first place. He could handle the situation by himself. They didn't think he could, and he knew they thought that, but he would show them. Or so he told himself. In any event, he wasn't expecting a voice, a menacing whisper, to emanated directly behind him.

"The only one you need to worry about now is right here."

The boy spun around, startled, expecting to meet the person who spoke, perhaps with them already attacking him, but instead, there was nothing. "What the...?"

"Or rather, all around you."

Again, the harsh whisper sounded, but it was loud, surprisingly so. It made the boy cover his ears in pain. It also sounded as it the voice was right on top of him, almost as if coming from his own being.

"Wh-who's there?" he demanded, looking all around him. His eyes were wide, his mouth dry, his heart racing, as if trying to bust its way out of his chest. "Stop playing around! Come out!"

"How oblivious you are to what's in front of you."

Then, from the corner of his eye, the boy saw something, a dark figure. He spun to get a better look, but it was like it just fazed out of existence, only to appear in the peripheral of his other eye, slightly closer. Again he turned, this time able to center the shadowy being in his vision, cementing the fact to him that it was real, before once again vanishing, flickering just in his line of sight.

This game went on a few more rounds, before the dark figure just appeared a few feet in front of him causing the boy to stumble back, frightened, and into a solid figure. Forgetting about what was right in front of him, he turned around, seeing Zetsu right behind him. He fell back, not really sure what to believe, if this was all real or if he was just crazy, only to be caught by Zetsu grabbing his neck and hoisting him above the ground.

The boy flailed, holding Zetsu's wrist and trying get him to let go, struggling for air as the giant just calmly appraised him. "Hmm, you're that scum from earlier, the one who tried to make a move on Shirayuki-san. That just makes you more fun to break."

And this is the scene Naruto stumbled upon, his friend strangling the person who had sent him into a miniature rage. For a moment, he was frozen, conflicted about what he should do. He was out of sight of the two,so he had some time to think on it, but it really didn't take long for him to make himself known.

"Zetsu, what's going on?"

The tall man didn't turn to regard his friend, and as such, it was almost as if he were talking to his captive, or his surroundings, more than the blond, refusing to even direct his own question to anyone in particular. "What are you doing here?"

Naruto noticed that Zetsu's voice sounded almost... strained, as if he were struggling to come to a decision about something. The blond could only guess what. It was then that the blond recognized the person Zetsu was holding as the one who he had lashed out against earlier. Momentarily, his anger flared, and he considered walking up and start beating him like a punching bag as Zetsu strangled him, but he suppressed the urge. He still found himself at a crossroads, though.

On one hand, he could just walk away, let Zetsu do whatever he would, presumably killing the student for some unspecified reason. Better yet, he may be able to watch, derive some sort of amusement out of the display, but from the sound of his friend's voice earlier, Zetsu probably didn't want him there. Of course, there was then the fact that Zetsu was the one who had gotten him to calm down for the day. It made him wonder, was this some kind of test? Was he meant to find this, so he could be judged on how much further he had to go to truly become calm? It didn't really make sense to him, but he did come to one conclusion; this wasn't the Zetsu he knew.

"Put him down," the blond said, more like order, really. It caused Zetsu to cast him a quick glance, almost as if h thought he misheard, before deliberating a bit more. Naruto could see the student didn't have much time left, and while he really didn't care about him, he did care about his friend's integrity. "Now," he commanded, a bit more forcefully, before calmly adding, "this isn't you."

At that, Zetsu snarled a bit, holding his head in his free hand, almost as if he were in pain, before finally dropping the boy, allowing him to gasp for air. It didn't mean Zetsu was satisfied, though. "Why? Why are you here? Why do you care if this guy lives?"

"I don't," the blond simply stated, crossing his arms over his chest as he regarded Zetsu approaching him. "But I don't want you to do something you may regret. I may not have known you for long, or what you were like before you ended up here, but from what I've seen, you don't harm people if you can help. Now, while I don't have a problem with caving someone's skull in (as long as there aren't any protests from someone who's opinion I care about), I'm not going to let you do it if you'll regret it. Now, do you really want him dead? Look at him and tell me?"

Zetsu, surprised with how logical Naruto was being complied, looking at the sorry sight of the whimpering student, and sighed, feeling his anger all but vanish, almost as if it had never existed. "No."

"Good, then I guess now we..." before Naruto could finish, something had happened. Somewhere between when Zetsu had given his answer to when Naruto had started talking again, the discarded student had unsteadily risen to his feet, drew a small knife and began charging. By the time the blond had stopped, the student had found his mark, digging the blade into Zetsu's back, causing the man to gasp and start to fall forward. He managed to stop his descent before he really went anywhere, though, and shakily turned.

Faster than the frightened student could process, the giant had driven an elbow into the top of his skull, cracking it as he was driven face force into the ground with enough force to bounce, allowing Zetsu to actually punt him into a tree. The man followed up extracting the blade preparing to throw it at the student, who had passed out from the impact and had no chance to avoid it, only to find he couldn't move his arm. Looking back, he saw why, as Naruto held his arm in a vice-like grip. As the blond was stronger then him, there really wasn't a way he could get out of this, unless he wanted to strike his friend.

"Drop it, we're leaving."

It took a moment for Zetsu to take stock of his options, before he complied, dropping the knife on the ground. He then began to limp his way out of the woods, following behind Naruto, before the blond noticed his mobility issues.

Slowing down, Naruto, crouched in front of his friend and looked back at him, a sign that said 'get on'. The man refused, sidestepping around the blond, only to find himself being propped up, Naruto having moved under his side to support him, despite the height difference.

"I can travel on my own," Zetsu said, making no move to push his friend away as they moved more rapidly to their destination, now in tandem.

"Could've fooled me," was the blond's curt response. He then added, "Besides, this is slightly faster."

"And just where do you plan on dragging me?"

"Medical center."

"No."

This caused Naruto to look at Zetsu strangely, but he decided against arguing with him. Instead, he just asked, "Where to, then?"

"Club room," Zetsu said. "This event is winding down, so people should be heading back with their groups. I don't doubt Kurumu-san's stitching ability, or the fact that she as one at all, but if that fails, I'm sure we'll think of something."

The two lapsed into silence after that, with Naruto supporting Zetsu as they continued on and the large man attempting to stem the blood flowing out of his wound, the latter failing as his coat became stained a deep crimson. Noticing this, Naruto used his free hand and better positioning to apply the needed pressure, causing a slight, almost unnoticeable wince to come across Zetsu's features.

Luckily, the foot traffic the two came across was nonexistent, allowing them to proceed without questioning. The halls of the school were no different, everyone having already packed up what they needed and left, taking a break before they had to dismantle the stands completely. The stairs did cause some trouble, but once that obstacle was out of the way, it wasn't long before they came to the room their club used as a central hub. His hands full, the blond pushed it open with his foot.

He pushed too hard, the door slamming open and causing everyone to turn their attention the the two now standing there. Naruto noticed that they were all gathered around a large table, drinks being passed out to celebrate a hard day's work. They all forgot their accomplishments, though, noticing that the blond was supporting his larger friend, and that blood was starting to form a small puddle behind the latter, having already dripped a trail that showed the path they took.

As the two entered the room, everyone rose, Tsukune and Gin helping Naruto bring Zetsu to a smaller, unoccupied table he could rest on while the others began asking questions.

"What happened?" asked Mizore, keeping calm and turning to Naruto to get an answer.

"We got into a fight," Naruto admitted, feeling a bit of shame at the looks he received, though not showing it. It obviously sounded bad, being sent away for violent tendencies and ordered to calm down only to get into a fight and have a friend stabbed. He probably could have put it better, even if he wasn't being entirely truthful. Of course, he wasn't about to throw his wounded friend under the bis by blaming him.

By this time, Zetsu had gotten his shirt and jacket off, allowing free access to his injury. He decided to take over the duty of fielding the question, rolling with Naruto's lie. "We were jumped by the punk he scared away earlier. He brought friends. And a knife. I got stabbed."

This was the first Naruto had heard of other people. He hadn't seen them in the woods. Was Zetsu making that up, or were there really others? It caused an eyebrow to arch in confusion.

"But why did you come here?"asked Kurumu, drawing Naruto's attention, as it was him which the question was directed at. "You should have taken him to the infirmary. How are we supposed to handle this?"

"Zetsu believed you could sew him up. He refused to go there on that basis."

"I can't sew!" Kurumu shouted, causing Naruto to look pointedly at Zetsu. The man, now with his stomach on the table and his arms propping up his head, actually looked marginally surprised. "And even if I could, we don't have those materials!"

"We could cauterize the wound," Hotaru suggested, causing the others to look at her. She was examining the wound, soaking up blood with paper towels to allow for a better view. "I mean, it's going to scar either way, so what difference does it make if it's a burn or not? And since we have neither the materials nor skill to stitch you up, and you won't get proper medical attention, we really don't have much choice. It also dos a good job of immediate disinfection."

"That doesn't really help with damage inflicted deeper inside him. One of his organs could have potentially been sliced, of a blood vessel attached to one. It's bad to just burn those shut." Yukari brought up a good argument, leaving some to think of new ideas. "Besides, we don't really have a source of heat high enough to close his wound."

"None of my organs were hit, trust me, I know," Zetsu said, drawing attention back to him. "And if a blood vessel was, I'll deal with whatever complications a procedure would entail in good time. As for the cauterization, I doubt she would bring it up unless she had a plan."

"Yes, actually," Hotaru affirmed. Then, as if to prove a point, she snapped her fingers, and a flame appeared over the tip of her thumb. It got the expected reaction out of people, like she was a magician or something. "Now, does anyone have a piece of metal? It's easier that way. Also, you know this is going to hurt, right?"

Zetsu just nodded.

Not seeing any real reason to stay, Naruto proceeded to slip out of the doorway, content with taking a walk to clear his head. He didn't notice Mizore follow him out, and in turn, she didn't notice Kokoa follow her until she caught up. No one notice their disappearance until later.

It wasn't until Naruto had made it to a group of unmarked headstones then he stopped, resting against one and unknowingly allowing the other two to catch up.

"Want to talk?" asked Mizore, causing the blond to turn his head almost mechanically. He didn't seem surprised by their presence, but Kokoa's outfit was another matter.

"What are you wearing?"

Because her other clothes were now too big due to her shrinking, the others had apparently found a ruffled black dress for her to wear. Blushing at being reminded of her current state of affairs, her only response to him was a simply, "S-Shut up!"

Grunting at the reply, he turned back around. "Why are you guys here, anyway?"

"It's obvious you weren't telling the whole story back there, and for whatever reason that was, I doubt it was to protect your image."

As Mizore spoke, she moved around to sit next to Naruto, grabbing his hand as she did so and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me about it."

"Not really," Naruto said, to which he meant, 'not at the moment'. While he didn't have a problem with Kokoa, or not as big a problem as he did, he didn't really trust her enough. Seeing Mizore's nod, he knew she got the message. He then turned to Kokoa, asking, "And what about you?"

"You're the only one who hasn't treated me as a kid yet," she replied, pouting a bit at the memory of how everyone had been acting as if she were a toddler or something. "I figured that makes you more tolerable than everyone else right now."

"Everyone's treating you like a kid?" he asked, a bit confused. Yes, her body was that of a child, but surely her past actions would make up for that, right? Then, he turned to Mizore for confirmation, only to have her turn away from him, a blush on her face as she mumbled something about Kokoa being 'too cute' and then something about a 'maternal instinct'. The blond didn't really know what to think about that.

"See, you don't care! Why can't the others be more like you?"

"They're probably just watching out for you," Naruto said dismissively. "You know, worried that this change really got to you."

"Well that's stupid! I'm the youngest of four sisters, I know what it's like being small, and it sucks! But this body is nothing but a hindrance to me, and I might be able to deal with it if it were just that! No, what really get's to me is that they think like that!"

The outburst left Kokoa out of breath, and the others gave her time to catch it before she continued, this time at a calmer pace.

"Why can't they just see I don't want to be worried about, that I can take care of myself?"

"It's because we see you as our friend," said Mizore, cutting into the conversation. "That means we don't think you should have to shoulder a burden on your own, despite what your pride tells you. And yes, maybe we were wrong about teasing you the way we did, being as condescending as we were, and while I can't speak for the others, I did it in part to bring you closer, give a sense of familiarity so you wouldn't be so adverse to us in general. So if you were expecting an apology at the end of this, then I can say you will be disappointed."

It took a bit for Kokoa to register what Mizore was saying, and from the blank look she was receiving, the young vampire would have to take what was said at face value. Once she heard the end, though, a small scowl appeared on her face. "You bitch," she huffed, before the scowl was replaced by a small grin. "Thanks."

The smile was reciprocated, and by the time Naruto finally understood what Mizore did, he, too, smiled. The good times were interrupted, though, by the arrival of a dozen or so people, all of whom carried an aura of malicious glee.

"Heh, we finally found..." the leader, who Naruto recognized as one of the two people Kokoa had beaten up earlier, began, before cutting himself off, as he finally noticed the presence of the blond and his girlfriend. Ignoring their leader's pause, the others continued to surround the three, though one did speak up on the matter.

"Hay, I thought you said it was just one chick?"

"Well, now you can see that you were wrong," said Mizore flatly, standing up to join Kokoa. "Of course, it's a wonder you didn't notice earlier. I mean, the area is rather flat, and there isn't anything to obstruct one's view."

"Shut up!"

At this point, most people noticed the blond still sitting on the grave stone, a conflicted look on his face. Mizore, a bit concerned, turned to him and asked, "Are you going to join us?"

"Hmm? Oh, nah, I think the runt can handle this herself. Besides, she got herself into this mess, if she really need help, I'll step in. That okay with you?"

The question was directed at the red-head, to which she just nodded, a nervous determination in her eyes. Regardless of what she was feeling, though, she said, "I got this," a small smirk on her face. Hearing this, Mizore rejoined Naruto, as the thugs just looked at their target(s?) in confusion, unsure of what to do.

Finally, the leader reasoned that, "We're on;y here for the brat, focus on her!" allowing the battle to start, Kokoa appearing to hold her own quite easily, despite the odds. It gave Mizore a chance to question Naruto, in any event.

"You know, usually you would jump into a fight like this without thinking. What's up?"

In response, the blond shrugged. "It's pretty obvious that the others think I need to tone it down a bit. I'm just trying to take that into consideration. Even if that weren't the case, though, the runt needs to be put up against the ropes, see that it is okay to accept help.

"If this is about earlier today, yes, it may help to think things through, but no one holds it against you if you get into fights like this, especially to help a friend, that's just how we live. Is that why you left earlier, because you felt ashamed at getting into a fight and having Zetsu-san get wounded?"

A pause, as the two had to lean to the side to avoid a thugs body flying towards them. They both regarded the fight with little interest, and Naruto noticed that the violence really didn't have an affect on Mizore. He wondered when that happened, or it t were always like that. Then, she continued.

"As for Kokoa-chan, are you sure she would let you interfere after you said that you would only if she asked? It may just make her angry. You never ask for help."

It was unknown if the two were just oblivious to the fact that with each time the other spoke, more topics were added to the initial conversation, or if they just didn't care. It didn't really matter, though, as the blond's next statement put the discussion to rest for the moment.

"Maybe you're right."

The fight was over soon after that. Kokoa had managed to defeat the thugs and their leader with no external help, and even though she was exhausted, there was also a strange sense of accomplishment welling within her. Turning to the two, she showed her gratitude with a deep bow. "Thank you. You guys let me take care of my own problems, even though appearances would cause anyone else to automatically jump in and 'protect' me. You know, before this, I was considering joining some other club because of the others, but you, you guys seem to understand me. Maybe with you, things won't be so unbearable."

"Come to think of it, did you actually ever tell the others what you told us before the fight?" asked Mizore, causing a blank look to come over Kokoa's face before it was replaced with one of embarrassment.

"You think that would help?"

She received a shrug as an answer as the trio made their way back to the club.

/

(A Few Days Later):

By the time the trio had gotten back, Zetsu had stalked off to presumably get some rest, leaving the others with little to do but wonder what the three were doing. They explained themselves, and Kokoa had told them a shorter version of what she had told Mizore and Naruto.

The newspaper club had received no new members, as word of Naruto's violent tendencies had spread to the freshmen, and most people had stopped from handing in their forms. Surprisingly (to the blond), they all had a laugh at that, despite how critical he expected them to be. He supposed it was just because he had played a major part in having Kokoa truly join them, which was more important.

Things weren't all good, though. For the past few days, there had been disappearances. No bodies, no notes, and their dorm rooms still had their belongings in them. In short, no explanation as to where or why these students were just vanishing. It was... more than a bit unsettling, and, of course, it was the newspaper's next big story.

"This is getting bad," said Kurumu to the group gathered around the table. Every member of the club was gathered, with the exception of Zetsu, Kokoa, and Gin. "Already, nine students have disappeared in the last week alone. Those missing seem to have nothing in common; all of them were in different clubs, different years, none of them really shared characteristics, physically, socially, or mentally, and it didn't seem as if they knew each other. What we can assume is that they were all outside at night by themselves when they vanished."

"So what do you propose?" asked Yukari, deferring back to Kurumu, who had taken up a leadership role in their president's absence.

"Our primary goal should be to warn the students. I suggest we write an article, cautioning everyone against going out after dark if they can help it, least of all by themselves. After that, maybe we can start looking for clues that can aid the faculty in catching this person."

"How do we know it's only one person, though? I mean, there could be multiple people doing this individually, as scary as it seems. As you said, nothing connects any of the disappearances."

Tsukune brought up a good point, though Kurumu shook her head. "I suppose anything is possible, but this seems too clean to be multiple people. In all cases, there is no evidence, and it seems more likely it was one person stalking the school grounds. I wouldn't write your theory off completely, but as of now, this is too consistent."

Naruto had to stifle a laugh at that. Too consistent with no evidence behind the disappearances? Didn't seem to make much sense to him. Of course, it was hard for him to understand the girl. When one of those who vanished was revealed as the student he and Zetsu had had a conflict with, Kurumu suggested the blond had something to do with it. Luckily, he had Mizore and the others to back him up, have spent the evening doing homework with them. Then again, it did make sens he may have been involved.

"Now then, Moka, I think you would be best to write this article. The rest of us should do what we normally do for now."

This suggestion was met with agreement as the large group moved apart into two smaller ones and Moka who began doing as she was told. In Naruto's group, he, Yukari, Mizore, and Hotaru were able to discuss the strange happenings due to the fact that their positions included editing and formatting more than writing actual columns, which they did on occasion as well.

"Scary stuff, huh? I don't think I'll ever go out at night again," Said Yukari, receiving a nod from Hotaru. "What about you two? What do you think about all this?"

"Well, it's bad, but it's going to take more than an article to crack this case. I think it's obvious there is more to this than meets the eye?"

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked Mizore, who just shrugged.

"The way I see it, there are a number of explanations. It could all be a coincidence, with many unrelated factors boiling down to the same result. As Tsukune said, it could me multiple culprits working together. They may all just be running away, seeking attention, just t come back in a few days. All that and more. I just don't think it's simply abductions, though."

"And what of you, Naruto-san?" asked Yukari, stroking her chin thoughtfully as she took in what Mizore had said while turning to the blond. He, too, had a contemplative look on his face, his gaze pointed at the floor. At the sound of his name, though, he looked up, as if the moments before that didn't exist for him.

"What?" he asked, supporting the theory that he hadn't been listening at all.

Before someone could reel him back into the conversation, though, the door slid open, quiet enough not to disturb the other three in the room, but since the others were closer, they noticed. Kokoa then walked in, moving towards them without taking the time to notice what the others were doing, just sitting at the table with the people she felt closest to.

She looked terrible, as if she hadn't slept well (or at all) the previous night, if the bags under her eyes and her lack of balance as she swayed in her seat were indicators of anything.

"You look like shit," Naruto said off-handedly, though with a small amount of concern in his voice. Kokoa didn't seem to be one who would be out of it for any reason. Something must have really gotten to her. "Tough night?"

"You could say that," Kokoa said, leading the others to believe she would continue. When she didn't, and a tense silence permeated the air around them, Yukari found herself pressing for information.

"So what happened?"

Kokoa remained silent for a moment, debating with herself whether or not to tell the others what was bugging her, before she apparently saw nothing wrong with it.

"Last night... I... saw something. An attack. A creature was attacking a student. I hid, watching, thinking I'd get something on the disappearances, that maybe this guy knew where the others were and was taking this person there, too."

"What kind of creature?" asked Hotaru, but Kokoa only shook her head.

"I don' know, but it as big. Or tall, at least. It seemed lean. Anyway, I was hiding, and I'm sure I didn't make a sound, but it seemed to know I was there. I looked in my direction, its yellow eyes glowing in the dark, and from the silhouette, it seemed like it had a giant mouth stretching up over its head, filled with razor sharp teeth. Before I could do anything though, it disappeared into the for with its victim, into the forest."

"Sounds creepy," said Yukari. "Hey, maybe you could show us where this happened and Naruto-san can go in and beat the guy up. What do you think?"

The last question was directed at the blond, but he and Mizore were to busy sharing a sideways glance. He had finally told her what had happened with Zetsu previously, and with this new information, they were both worried.

"Hey, you guys okay?" the witch asked, only for Naruto to stand up and walk to the door.

"I need to go see something," was all he said, leaving most of the room very confused, and Mizore very concerned for her friends.

(That Night):

"Zetsu, what are you doing?" asked the blond, approaching his friend. The man's disguise was down, his plant appendages showing, and he seemed almost... frightened as he spun around.

"Naruto," the man said, his voice a mixture of a yelp and a growl, before leveling off, "what are you doing here? How did you find me?"

The blond had actually stumbled upon the man while scouting the forests. He had been hoping he wouldn't actually find him, maybe someone else, but it didn't turn out like that.

"Where are the people, Zetsu?" While he really didn't have evidence that Zetsu had anything to do with the disappearances, other than Kokoa's story, which provided circumstantial evidence at best, the blond didn't need it. His friend was unusually violent,he was in the woods now, he wasn't disguised. To Naruto, Zetsu was involved somehow. He wanted to know how.

Zetsu didn't deny involvement.

"They're... no longer around," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"Did you kill them?"

"Yes."

Naruto noticed a pained look come across his friends face, but didn't bring it up. He still needed answers.

"Where are the bodies?"

When he didn't get an answer, Naruto became a bit more forceful in his approach.

"What did you do to them, Zetsu? Why kill them?"

Still no answer. The man was avoiding the blond's gaze now, but wasn't running, wasn't trying to hide the truth. It was like he wanted to tell Naruto, but didn't know how. It just served to piss the blond off, though. This wasn't the Zetsu he thought he knew, being too indecisive, failing to hide it. And, while he wanted to protect his friend, he needed to know what he had done first.

"Zetsu, what did you do?"

"I ate them, okay?" Zetsu yelled back, clearly enraged. While the anger was enough to throw Naruto through a loop, the actual answer left him speechless."Is that what you wanted to hear, that I killed unsuspecting people who never did anything, feasted on them because I lacked self-restraint, kept doing despite knowing what it might lead to?"

"Zetsu, calm down!" Naruto shouted, effectively silencing his friend. Naruto may not have liked the image of Zetsu eating people, but he tried not to judge. Besides, he still didn't know why he was doing it. "Now tell me, why did this star happening?"

There was a moment of silence, as Zetsu realized Naruto wasn't going to run away or try to kill him. Instead, he wanted to hear the story. The man obliged. "Back home, I used to eat the corpses of any dead shinobi I came across. In life, they were tools, possible an enemy. In death, they fueled me, gave me sustenance rich in chakra. I saw no wrong in doing what I did, as their profession had them sacrifice themselves, even after they ceased living. All things considered, worse could have been done. When I came here, though, I tried to stop. The people I saw, they never lived a life where any moment could be their last. Or they weren't fully aware of it, nor were their families. Nothing to really justify eating them except my own cravings. Sure, I dug up a grave or two early on, ate those bodies, but they were... lacking. I soon saw little need in eating the bodies of the people in this world."

"So what happened?" This really didn't disturb Naruto too much, all things considered. He'd mutilated a body or two before, but that was a while ago. As he recalled, it was pretty fun. Maybe he would do it again, but only if the guy really pissed him off and Mizore wasn't there. Even if she were, though, sh may understand. Back to Zetsu, though. That was what was important at the moment.

"Ever since that plant took me over, I've felt as if my inhibitions have been... diminishing. As you saw, I grew increasingly violent, and the cravings came back. Admittedly, I wasn't the best at suppressing my urges, and I often found myself just wandering the academy grounds at night. It didn't help that during that time period, students would occasionally be found heavily injured; they were easy prey."

Naruto quickly concluded that Zetsu was talking about The Slasher's missing victims. If anything, the blond knew what happened to them, and why his friend was so adamant about not mentioning them in the paper. That didn't make the situation any more comforting, though.

"I thought I could stop as soon as we caught those responsible for injuring the students in the first place. After all, I had never really instigated the hunt, only preyed on those already wounded. Normally I would never be desperate enough to actively stalk victims with nothing wrong with them. I'm a scavenger. But then, a few days ago..."

(Several Days Ago):

"Oh, you made it."

"Of course I did," was the curt reply Zetsu gave. In front of him was the girl he had met during club recruitment, poking her head out from behind the door to her workshop to see who her visitor was, but keeping the rest of her body hidden.

"So you've decided to help?" she asked, excitement creeping into her voice, before overflowing and spilling over into a large smile as he nodded. "Oh, thank you, come on in," she said hurriedly, stepping out of sight for a moment as she opened the door more for Zetsu to walk through. "I hope you found this place easily."

"It wasn't too hard to find," he commented, stepping into the large warehouse where the girl had set up shop. Of course, it helped that he had been here before when Naruto had aided in Moka's kidnapping. Still he wasn't thinking that, nor was he thinking of how humid the large space was. He wasn't thinking of how the sunlamps hurt his eyes slightly, or how the temperature continually changed ever so slightly as he walked behind the girl. No, at the moment, he was caught up in how endearing the girl actually was, how happy and active she seemed. It helped that she took good care of her plants.

Speaking of which, as he looked around, he saw rows upon rows of plants, all of different colours, shapes, and sizes, all of which grew in different environments and had different and specific needs. All of which thriving. He noted how for each specimen, there was a thermometer to measure the soil temperature, and one for the air. He also took note of the unique watering system each plant had, ranging from stupidly simple to impossible complex depending on what was needed.

As Zetsu walked behind the girl he wondered what sort of project she needed help with, but, knowing that was where she was taking him, instead asked, "Did you have any luck in getting members for your club?"

"No, unfortunately," she said, not sounding the least bit depressed. "I have to find a club to join by the end of the week. However, the school says I can still use this space for as long as I want to grow my plants."

"That's nice. It would've been a shame for such hard work to go to waste."

"Yeah."

It seemed as if she wanted to ask something, probably about what had happened when they met, but decided against it. That was good, as Zetsu had no desire to discuss it. It wasn't long after that that they came to a door.

"I suggest holding your nose," the girl said as she fiddled with a look on the door. "The smell can be overpowering the first few times."

Zetsu looked on confused as she opened the door and was herded into the room before being closed in with the girl to gaze upon the plant. It was large, easily taller then him, even though it was mostly large petals stretching upwards and surrounding its spadix. The outside of the petals were a light green, while the insides were a deep mauve. Then the stench hit him, one he had become familiar with; it was that of rotting flesh.

Almost immediately after inhaling, the man felt light-headed, wavering on his feet a bit before finding his balance again. The girl didn't notice, just as he didn't notice she was talking to him. When he did realize she had spoken, though, he asked her to repeat.

"I said, 'what do you think of the Titan Arum?'. Impressive, isn't it? I've been having trouble with its offspring, though. The seeds don't seem to want to spout, and I was thinking maybe... hey are you okay?"

By now, Zetsu was sweating heavily, something he blamed on this room being so much more humid than the rest of the warehouse. He was clearly unbalanced again, this time choosing to lean on the wall. He couldn't feel his extremities, a numbness overtaking him as his whole body began trembling, his breathing becoming shallow as he took in more and more of the fragrance. Moreover, he was overcome by an unfathomable emptiness.

The girl, concerned, ran over to his side, trying to see what was wrong with him. She was talking, he could see her lips moving, but he couldn't hear her. It was almost as if he were underwater in that respect, as nothing but that hollow, nonexistent echo filled his ears, and the pressure growing on his chest just strengthened that thought. Then, it all just stopped, as darkness filled his vision.

When he came to, he first became aware of how wet his hands were. That feeling applied to his the area around his mouth as well. Bringing his hands close to his face, his vision started to focus, only for hims to reel back in shock. His hands, and much of his sleeves, were positively drenched in blood. A crimson tendril reached down from his chin, adding to the mess. Then, his eyes adjusted more, allowing Zetsu to take in the sight of the girl, lying on the floor, dead. It wasn't a question of where all the blood came from, especially once he took in all the chunks that seemed to just be 'missing' from all around her body.

Zetsu felt sick with himself. This was in part because it was very rare for him to kill capable prey in the first place. It was more than that, though. This girl was probably one of the last people this deserved to happen to. She knew him for so little time, and so quickly accepted him, showing him a place like this warehouse. And after so long of keeping his urges in check, denying himself of what his base instinct told him... it was a harsh blow.

Now wasn't the time to think of this, though. He had to think logically. First things first, dispose of the body, get rid of an evidence. He would work from there. Now that his urge was once again sated,he could suppress it again. Then again, would this really be enough to satisfy him? It also wasn't a good idea to just quit cold-turkey best take things slow. No, he had to restrain himself from further actions like this. Of course, he still had the body in front of him. Best to take care of that first before he come to a decision.

(Present Time):

"The adrenaline that comes with killing someone who could just as easily kill you... it's almost as addicting as the taste and sensations the consumption itself brings. And after killing her, someone I could see as a friend, I really had no trouble with doing the same to any random student. It really was more of a blood frenzy than anything, and believe me,as much as I would like to stop...well, these urges were hard to contain before I started killing. Now that I've let it run rampant, though..."

"So you're saying you can't quit just like that?" asked Naruto, contemplating everything Zetsu said. He didn't hate the man, or blame him for his actions. This was just the way he was. However, for the first time since he had met him, Zetsu was showing a bit of vulnerability. He was saying he didn't want to be this way.

"I would go crazy if I just tried to quit," the man replied, a hint of anger in his voice, suggesting that he wasn't too pleased with either the prospect or the fact that he felt he had little choice."

To this the blonde nodded, apparently having come to a decision. Without hesitation, he removed his shirt, the cool night air having no effect on him. Then, running his hand along his tattoo, he released his sword, grasping it tightly in his left hand.

A bit alarmed by the action, Zetsu jumped back and prepared for a fight, all the while looking for a viable escape route. Phasing into the ground would take too long, and at the moment, the blond could probably reach him. The man was more than a bit disheartened by the turn of events as well. He thought Naruto of all people would understand, being the way he was. However, since his life was now in danger, he supposed he was wrong in that assumption.

Before he could work the situation out, though, Naruto acted, bringing his sword down in a sharp and deadly arc. The swing wasn't directed at Zetsu, though, and didn't come anywhere close tho reaching him, something that confused the man. Instead of attacking, Naruto had brought his blade down on his own arm, having stopped once it had reached bone.

Grunting as he removed the blade, he brought it down again, growling to muffle a pained gasp as he snapped through the bone. With a final, hurried strike, Naruto severed his right arm completely, midway between his shoulder and elbow. Not bothering to stem the bleeding, the blond picked up his limp and tossed it to Zetsu, who looked on with confusion as he caught it.

"Don't worry; it'll regenerate in half-an-hour or so," the blond said, sealing his blade as he gathered his clothes and threw them over his left shoulder to avoid getting them bloody. "That should be enough to tide you over for now. I'll make sure to feed you at least once a day, more if you need it, until you think you're ready to stop. We'll get through this don't worry."

And with that, Naruto simply left, leaving a confused and significantly touched Zetsu. He would never forget this act of kindness.

/

So yeah, if the ending doesn't really flow, it's because I went through several versions of that little section, and didn't really consult Lykaos on any of them. Also, needless to so, I won't be visiting this for a while, reason being the chapter I plan will be long. But it needs to be, especially if I'm going to ft the lemon in. That's right perverts, you patience has paid off. Seeing as it will be my first lemon, I'm going to take my time with it, make it classy, get it right. Also, for those wondering, 6,000 yen is equivalent to 77 U.S. dollars. I don't actually know if that's a realistic figure. Anyway, the next stories I will work on are the ones that won the poll. If you don't know what I'm talking about, either because you usually don't read these, or because I was an idiot and never mentioned a poll on this story, I ran a poll about 17 months back for about a year. For those who know what I'm talking about, Blind Them, Kazuki! will be updated first. I still need a beta for both it and Hand of the Artist. If you're interested, just tell me, because I'm not going to actively search for one. Besides, this method get fans involved, by sheer virtue that they are annoyed by the errors I make and want to do something about it.

Before I go, I know most all of you are more than a little tired with Konjyoyaki. I want it to be known now, he will play part next chapter (fight scene) if all goes to plan. This will be his last big fight, and after that, he'll really only play one more big part before he get's killed off. For those of you who are complaining of spoilers of of me 'giving in', I think I made it pretty clear early on that he was going to die before the series was over, and had this planned before I actually introduced him in this story. For those of you who actually read Bloody Prayer and think I'll pull the same trick as in chapter 7 somewhere along the line in this saga's progression, no, he'll be dead for good, and you won't see him in any subsequent sequels. Other unrelated stories, unlikely, but if he does turn up, his part will be small, or he'll be portrayed as a more realistic antagonist. After all, I've created all the O.C.s I'm going to with this story, might as well recycle them in others (Colban is the exception to the rule, for reasons I think are obvious). Now, since I don't really have the chapters after next all laid out, I'm only estimating, but I'd say overall, Konjyoyaki only has six chapters left really. I'll end it on that, letting you contemplate that information and really count the time left Konjyoyaki has to live. See you later.

Also, this chapter totals 17,983 words. Fuck...