Author's Note: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.
Cue Music: (1)The Dead Matter Track 18: Lullaby
"The Angel's Requiem"
And the Angels sing of the damned...
When the ever faithful have turned away
And prayers are graced with silence
But salvation lie's within their fears
And the ever present quiet
And the Angels sing of the fallen...
When temptations vice entices
For false promises enraptures
The easily swayed
When hearts are shattered and crying
And the Angels sing of the broken...
When alluring sins enthralls
For gossamer strands will blind the truth
When hope has yet to fade away,
And the songs are all but gone.
Kakashi swiftly made his way through the maze like hallways. His form blended seamlessly into the shadows of the dark corridors. He needed to find Leon and he needed to find him now!
There was no doubt in his mind as to 'what' those children were but he needed Leon to confirm 'who' they were. The problem was they had no idea where to start looking for answers. Leon hadn't been there to witness anything so explaining the situation would take a while.
Kakashi made it a habit to collect background information on all his students. But from what he understood Ginji, Naruto, Kazuki, and Sora didn't have backgrounds.
There were only a handful of generations with their people that still existed right now. Or as they were more commonly known as... the Myths and Legends of the world. They had been there since before man had been able to walk on the earth. And they existed even now after everything was said and done.
In the earlier generations they lived a harmonious life with mankind, but as the people evolved so did their greed. The creatures were forced into hiding but they controlled everything from where no one would suspect anything. In other words... the world was being run by what some considered noting more than a child's mere delusion. It was uproarious in fact to think who really controlled the governments, the Monarchy's, the black market, and the gangs all across the world. What would people actually say if they knew that their make-believe creatures ran the world?
The eldest generation was the Ancients. They were the higher-ups that pulled all the strings from the shadows. None but a select chosen few had ever really seen them. With time and age, their generation's number had dwindled but their powers increased.
The second eldest generation was titled the Anbu. They were the ones who were to inherit the title of Ancient should the time arise.
The younger the generation the weaker their powers were, that's just how it went with very few exceptions to the rule.
Now a generation didn't go by years like a humans would...no that would mean thousands upon thousands of generations existing at once. It was too complicated to keep track of, so their generations went by centuries. Everyone who was born within five centauries was considered one generation. For example if someone was to be born in the year of 2000, and then another creature was to be born in the year of 2500, they would be considered the same generation. Starting from the year 2501, another generation would be created. It wasn't possible to sire your own child within your generation either. You had to wait 5 centuries before you were ready for the task.
Almost every couple of millennia the eldest generation slowly died off and a new one takes charge. Since everyone is around the same age they reproduce at generally the same time. And right now was definitely not the time to reproduce. So where had those children come from?
Kakashi didn't understand how fledglings could contain such power. It was obvious that they had just hit maturity because it was physically impossible to not know about your ability when it decided to come forth. Not only that but it seemed as though there was a binding spell placed on them to delay the process. It made them very unstable and their repressed powers had just exploded. There were several unanswered questions...
Who would do such a thing? And why?
Where had they come from?
And where were their parents?
Kakashi snorted, 'I already met their parents though.'
(Flashback)
"Naru-chan? Hey Naru-chan get up..." Ginji gently slapped Naruto's face in hopes of bringing him around. He felt dizzy and sick himself.
"O-OI...OTOUTO WAKE UP!" He was getting desperate now that Naruto was unresponsive. A hand gently gripped his shoulder.
"Let's take him to his room he's probably exhausted." Kakashi gently lifted the boy in his arms and absentmindedly noted that his clothes, even though they still swamped his frame, was now excessively short.
Sora wasn't fairing so well himself, Kazuki hefted Sora on his back noting the sudden weight the boy had put on. Sora clung to him like a giant Koala and promptly fell asleep.
Ginji stood up from his crouching position and almost fainted on his feet.
"Whoa, easy there speedy."
An arm wrapped around Ginji's waist and pulled the tired boy into a firm muscled chest. He vaguely noted Ban's concerned gaze before turning to face Kakashi and Kazuki.
"Let's get them to their bed." He smiled softly though it was very strained. With the help of Ban the three made their way to the East Wing.
They would have made it there to if it weren't for the two furious but worried men baring their path.
"What happened?" The brunette was all over the boys within the blink of an eye.
The blonde however, took more time in assessing their states. His eyes grew wide as he took in their appearance. He almost didn't recognize them.
"What the hell happened to them and who removed their bind?" That, Kakashi had not been expecting. The two male, what he assumed to be teachers, looked pretty ordinary. He didn't feel any particular energy come from them either, so how did they know about the bind?
"Who are you?" he asked instead, ignoring the question.
Cloud gestured to the topics of their discussion. "We're there adoptive fathers, now answer the question. And what's with the blonde hair and growth spurt?" He replied coldly clearly not it the mood for any mind games.
"A bikkurishita!" his surprise was genuine as he overlooked the two men. (1)
"I had no idea they had two fathers, and such young handsome ones at that. It must be hard raising four boys together."
"N-no we're not together, just best friends." The brunet stuttered red in the face.
'How adorable!' Kakashi was immediately taken with the shy looking man.
"May I inquire your names?" he smirked.
Cloud studied the man in front of him with careful eyes. He was a handsome man with a charming personality it seemed. And with that same personality he was skillfully avoiding the question.
"I'm Strife Cloud and that's Umino Iruka. Now that that's out of the way, who are you and what happened to their binds?" Cloud was a stubborn one. He would not be deterred by a handsome face and pretty words.
"Hatake Kakashi and what interesting names you have. A Cloud and a Dolphin, how cute!"
Iruka took one look at the boy's conditions and his face sobered at the sight.
"Please don't avoid the question Hatake-san." Iruka's voice was stern and his glare was fierce.
"Kowai! Please, Kakashi is fine, I'm not one much for formalities. And more importantly I think the proper question is how did they get there in the first place?" Kakashi's smile was eerie.
Ban watched the exchange with rapt attention. So now the teachers were related to them too? How much more secrets could these boys possibly hide from them?
Never had he seen such a technique quite like what they were referring to as binding. It appeared to him as something that was used to somehow repress their power for a prolonged period of time.
"It's none of your business! I'll ask one last time, you're trying my god damn patience! Who took the damn seal off?" Iruka was surprisingly short tempered.
"I did." It was curt and short, but suited the situation just fine.
"What right did you have? You shouldn't mess with things you don't understand!" Iruka half growled, half yelled.
"Considering they were about to kill three of my students I believe I had every right." Kakashi wasn't smiling anymore. He did a perfect impression of Sasuke's expressionless face, and his voice was mocking.
"As to your other question, the change occurred when the seal was reversed. It was a clever little concealment trick."
Cloud felt a dead weight hit the bottom of his stomach. Iruka looked like he would collapse at any given moment.
"W-what?" His voice trembled as he stared at the man.
"Their pent up energies exploded because it reached its limit. And that was only a small sum of what's still in them. Now I think it's time I asked a few questions of my own. How did you know of the binding if you just adopted them?"
'Oh shit!' This man wasn't just a smooth talker, he was piecing the together the missing pieces of the puzzle.
"Or are you one of us?" Ban had finally spoken and he drew the attention of every conscious person in the hallway.
"What do you mean?" Iruka looked at him with wonder.
"Never mind," Ban figured that if they didn't know about them from the get go, then it wasn't his place to blow their secret.
"These boys are now under my care. And they will do as I see fit.."
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THE..."
"Do me a favor and shut up for a minute will you?" Kakashi was glaring at Iruka's outburst.
"You know nothing of the children you have in your custody. And it's dangerous for them to live in a state of mind where they don't even understand the changes happening around them!"
"Don't assume you know everything. Do you think that they would willingly follow you?" Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to rationalize his thoughts.
Kakashi took a deep breath in order to calm himself. "I'm not taking them away from you. There's just a part of their life you could never understand," he finished solemnly looking away.
'Maybe it's best for them, we cannot interfere...we can only standby and watch. We can only make sure they stay alive.' Cloud reached his hand forward and gently brushed the hair out of Naruto's eye. He looked at Kazuki as if realizing for the first time he was there. Kazuki refused to meet his eyes opting to stare at the floor instead.
"If anything happens to them I'm coming after you, understand?"
Kakashi smiled at him and nodded in approval. "I promise to take care of them as if they were my own."
That seemed to be enough for Cloud for he nodded his head and returned his smile albeit a little uneasily.
"We should get them to bed now." Kazuki's gentle voice rung out, he was smiling to.
'What an interesting outcome. Are they fine knowing that they will be omitted from part of their sons lives? Maybe 'their' secret isn't that safe...' Ban shifted the sleeping Ginji on his back as they all continued their short journey to the boy's rooms.
It would have been quite except Kakashi was shamelessly flirting with his English teacher. Ban winced, when Kakashi found something he wanted, he would get it no matter what... After all, that's how he, Sasuke, and Riku ended up here every. damn. time...
(End Flashback)
Leon was going to have a field day with that one. He never did get his answer as to how Iruka and Cloud knew about the binding. He figured he'd wheedle it out of them later, for now he had much more important things to worry about. Like...
'Where the hell was Leon when you needed him?'
(Cue Music The Dead Matter Track 18: Lullaby)
Naruto awoke with a start, flying into an upright position as he did so. He was drenched in a cold sweat and his breathing pattern was irregular. Trembling, his teeth were chattering.
It was freezing cold and abnormally so. He could see his breath in puffs as he let slow shaky gasps of air fill his lungs. Just like the last time, he was completely alone upon awakening.
'That had to be the worst nightmare I've ever had!' His jumbled mind managed to spit out amidst his raging thoughts.
Although, Naruto had no idea if that particular thought had any truth to it. After all, he couldn't even recall anything from the previous year.
A violent tremor danced across his spine and forced his mind into the 'here and now' so to speak. Naruto noticed his room was shrouded in darkness and try as he might, he simply couldn't make anything out.
But he heard it, the quite shuffling near his expansive vanity. He closed his eyes to strain his ears in hopes of hearing something more distinctive.
"...Ka..Kai...Kaijin..."
Naruto's blood froze in his veins as the raspy voice whispered in his ear. Mental images bombarded his senses one after the other.
...A chill raced up Naruto's spine as frozen digits yet again caressed his skin...
...It didn't matter if they were beautiful, cruel, or tortured looking, they all held this eerie life like quality that drew you in...
...He was snapped out of his revere by a pair of running feet that sounded suspiciously like a child's...
...he realized he was completely alone...
...There was no hallway, just a statue of a man that wasn't really a man. He was hideous yet held an unearthly beauty... He stared mockingly at Naruto, a twisted smirk that seemed to challenge Naruto's sanity...
...But it wasn't normal art... death... pictures of the tortured dying, or the dead corps exploited littered the walls...
...It was a miss used jutsu, nothing more dobe...
...Sora was no longer skinny and gawky looking, but tall and slender with lean muscles...
...Ginji's now blonde hair was bright enough to put the damn sun to shame, and his eyes were the warmest brown...
"..Mi...Mine..."
"IIIIIEEEEEEE..."
(End Cue Music)
"...EEE!"
"Otouto! Otouto daijoubu ka?" There were hands pinning him down and Naruto just screamed harder.
"ME O AKETE ONEGAI! (2)" Ginji held his breath as he shook Naruto almost violently. He stopped thrashing and let the voice of his brother sooth him.
"A-Aniki?" Naruto stretched his arms out wordlessly reaching for his safe place.
"I'm right here...sshhh." Ginji cradled him and rocked him back and forth as a mother would her baby.
As Ginji held him he was once again reminded of how big Naruto suddenly was. A sad smile graced his face when he thought of that.
"That must've been some dream, huh?" A slender hand slipped through his bangs and ruffled it lightly.
Though the hand was bigger and the voice was deeper, Naruto would recognize that touch anywhere.
"Mmm...So-chan, Aniki, how are you guys feeling?" He turned his head to take in their expressions. He wanted to forget that nightmare, it had felt so real. He could still feel the chill in the air and hear the rasp in the voice. He suppressed the urge to shudder once more, 'Wouldn't want Gin-chan or So-chan to worry.'
Sora looked tired but cheerful and Ginji looked happy if not a little dejected and worried. "What's the matter Aniki?"
Ginji sniffed before the waterworks started. "You guys are so big now! I can't lift you at the same time anymore! L-Look..." Ginji tried picking the both of them up just to show them what he meant.
"Aniki, matte-bayo!" Too late, Ginji had already scooped him and Sora up, and as if to prove himself, he fell forward on the bed crushing the two teens.
"Ooii, Gin-niichan my bones...you're squishing my bones." Sora cried out.
"Here let me help you with that!" In an instant the tears stopped and an impish grin took its place. His nimble quick fingers danced up and down their sides making them howl with rancorous laughter unable to escape.
"O-okay!...haha...Okay we..hahah..give!" Sora was tearing and he couldn't breath.
"It's good to see you guys are back to normal again." A stifled chuckle came from the doorway.
"Kazu-nii! Where did you go?" Sora was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.
"Class's over for today, I just got back to check on you guys."
"Huh? What time is it? How long did we sleep for?" Naruto noticed for the first time that they were all in their pajamas and his king-size bed seemed to have been fully occupied.
"You guys slept straight though the entire day. Everyone took turns coming to check on you."
"Everyone?" Sora asked curiously.
"Cloud and Iruka- otousan, me, Kakashi, our new instructor Leon a.k.a the math teacher, who by the way is very nice and eto...oh yeah everyone we ate lunch with yesterday came by."
"Anyone else?" Naruto tried to hide his hopeful tone but failed.
Kazuki looked deep in thought as he searched his memory. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly told the rest.
"Sakura and Ino came by for a minute but they left right afterwards."
Now there was a shocker. It was a pleasant one too, unlike all the rest of the things going on lately. Naruto grinned despite himself... 'maybe they weren't so bad after all...'
"It's dinnertime now, are you guys hungry?" Kazuki's answer was three rumbling stomachs. "I'll take that as a unanimous yes."
"Hurry and brush your teeth, take your showers, and get dressed quickly then."
"Hai, Okasan!" They all chorused together.
Within fifteen minutes they were all cleaned, dressed and standing in the lunch line.
"I want ramen." Sora pouted. He was completely ignoring the weird stares they were getting. He had had to borrow Kazuki's clothes because none of his fit anymore. Naruto had no problem fitting into Ginji's clothes either. (Although they were even bigger on him than they were on Ginji.)
"When we go to the city this weekend will stock up on some." Kazuki reasoned.
"Yes!" Naruto, Ginji, and Sora pumped their fist in the air victoriously. Out of the four of them, the only one who wasn't obsessed with ramen was Kazuki. Kazuki shook his head in hopelessness.
He looked around the dinning hall in search of a place to sit. It was absolutely packed.
"Where are we gonna sit now?" Sora looked over Kazuki's shoulder in wonder.
"How about dining with us?"
The group was greeted with the smiling face of a beautiful silveret.
"Riku!" Sora called out in surprise.
"Why would we wanna sit with you?" Naruto sneered instead. As far as he was concerned, they were all still assholes. Especially Sasuke!...even if he did save him unintentionally.
'Che, they're not as badass as they'd like to think they are.'
Riku blinked in surprised. 'Can't say I wasn't expecting that one...'
"Think of this as a peace offering." He said smoothly.
Ginji glanced back and forth between the two warily. He had no problems with the younger boy but he wouldn't let another fist fight breakout like what happened with Sasuke.
"No thanks, you can take your fake-ass offerings to someone who would actually believe that load'a shit." Naruto smirked feeling quite proud of himself. The boy didn't look like he'd had any good intentions to begin with.
Never had Arashi Riku been spoken to that way. Everyone loved him, everyone... and that wasn't just his cockiness speaking either.
Riku stared at the nerdy looking teen before him before he returned that smirk with one of his own. 'This guy... I gotta hand it to him, he's quick, and he's bold, I like him already. Amano Ginji and Uzumaki Naruto...just what are you playing at?'
"Heh, I don't think anyone's ever read me so easily before." There was no use in denying it. His mission was simply to gather facts on the odd group standing before him. And he wasn't lying about seeing through his pretenses easily either. Not even Ban or Sasuke could figure him out so easily.
"What do you want Riku-kun?" Ginji's voice was a little mistrusting if only for the fact that Riku had fessed up more or less to the accusation.
"We want to get to know you better, that's all." He watched their faces for a reaction.
"Sorry but we're not interested." This time it was Kazuki who spoke. They turned to leave before Naruto spoke up again.
"For what it's worth, we aren't dirt under your shoe." He looked over his shoulder to face Riku.
"Tell your screwed up gang to get their heads outta their asses first and maybe we'll consider your peace offerings."
Did this boy never hear of the word subtle before? Riku was left speechless for the first time in a long time.
Then he laughed, and laughed hard, gaining shocked looks from everyone around him.
All this time, everyone's been going off about them being stuck-up rich kids who needed to be put in their place. When in reality they were the ones playing boss for everyone when they got bored. Wasn't that the ultimate sign of being, stuck-up and spoiled? They wanted everything their way and 'no' wasn't an option. Well now they had a boy who was ready to give'em hell just to knock them off their high horses. Riku grinned.
'Irony is such a bitch...'
When Sasuke woke up the next morning he couldn't bring himself to roll out of bed. Thoughts of that room still plagued his mind.
'Naruto...' everything seemed to be centering around Naruto. It wasn't entirely true but it was close enough. When he'd found the boy two days prior, he thought the dobe was over reacting, or someone was playing a stupid joke. However that didn't seem to be the case. The study he was inspecting was incased in darkness. It would have been normal except someone's presences lingered in the room. The face he glimpsed forever etched within his minds eye, haunted him. He'd seen and experienced some weird things over the span of his life but Sasuke couldn't shake off the foreboding the presences wrought.
He couldn't explain it to the moron when he'd asked because he didn'tknowhimself. He vaguely wondered how Naruto would react when he found that Sasuke had lied to him about the jutsu.
As he tried to figure out just what the heck was going on, Kakashi had given them another mouthful of surprises to swallow. Three out of four were affected by what Ban called the 'bind'. Kazuki remained untouched. From what Sasuke could see Sora and Naruto grew at an accelerated rate, while Ginji remained fairly neutral. But both Ginji and Naruto turned from brunette to blonde while Sora's hair lighted significantly gaining visible highlights in the process. Ginji, Naruto, and Sora's facial structures seemed to have changed, which in turn made them look older. Sasuke had met shape shifters, and those boys didn't have the aura of one. So exactly what were they?
The puzzling events didn't just stop there either. Ban had told them about the peculiar conversation between Kakashi, Iruka, and Cloud. How much of a coincidence was it, that everything just so happened to go wrong when a group of teenagers and teachers arrived?
He needed answers and he needed to get closer to those boys in order to get them. But it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon with the message Naruto had sent for them with Riku. Stupid Usuratonkachi was making this harder than it needed to be! It seemed as if he'd regressed instead of make progress. Riku and Ban found the whole situation rather amusing. To bad he couldn't say the same for him.
Bang...bang...bang
"Oi Sasuke! You're going to miss your first class if you don't move your ass!"
"Baka Aniki! I'm up already." Sasuke growled back.
"Usotsuki"
"Urusai"
A barking laughter answered him loud and clear.
Sora loved Iruka-tousan but he hated second band English! He couldn't help it if the rules of grammar and punctuation didn't fascinate him. He doodled absentmindedly in his notebook willing time to go faster by not looking at the clock. Everyone knows that when you look at the clock, the bastard tries to mock you by going backwards instead of forwards, or it slows down instead of speeding up.
It had been ten minutes into the period before he was caught.
"..ra.."
"...Sor..."
"SORA!"
An eraser went soaring across the classroom and connected with his head.
Sora scrambled out of his seat hastily knocking over his chair. "HAI!" he shouted slowly becoming aware of the snickering and giggling going around the classroom. He blushed and resisted the urge to crawl in a whole and stay there.
"Since you missed yesterdays lecture, and your paying such rapt attention to today's lecture I'm assuming you can give me a summary of the Article we're reading.
"Ito...uno.. no?"
"And why pray tell can't you, if you were so into your work that you couldn't even hear me?" Iruka's left eyebrow was twitching, not a good sign.
"Aahh...I was...I was uumm... contemplating why Dolores...umm..why Dolores lied to Vera when she applied for her job! (3)" Sora beamed as Iruka studied him with a skeptical look. Thank god he remembered the book they were currently taking a break from.
"Did she apply before or after she married George?" Iruka questioned. 'Gottcha!'
'Chikushou! What to do! What to do!' Chibi Sora was running rampant in his head tearing his hair out. What? You didn't think Ginji was the only one with one of those little guys running around did you?
"Um... After?"
"YAPPARI! You didn't read anything did you?"
Sora hung his head in defeat, "Iie"
Iruka sighed and scanned the classroom. "Since you honestly don't know what you're doing, we need to partner you with someone who could keep you focused."
Hands shot in the air like magic, the girls were practically screaming to pick them for the job.
"I think the safest bet would be...Sasuke."
Sasuke had been quietly watching the scene play out from his window seat. He found it to be a little more interesting than the rain clouds forming outside the window.
Sora dejectedly made his way over to him plopping down in the seat next to him.
"Hi" Sora said nervously.
"Hn." Sasuke greeted back without looking at him.
He didn't feel very comfortable with the beautiful boy. He reminded him of a more silent version of Riku. He was too...evasive. Sora stared for a moment longer before doodling something in his notebook.
He showed it to Sasuke and Sasuke quirked a delicate brow. The picture was simple. Iruka was a giant stick figure with a volcano for a head and apparently he was about to erupt. Around his feet his stick figure students were running around in a panic. Sasuke could distinctly make out Sora's hair on the stick figure trying to put the volcano out.
English class just got a little more interesting, Sasuke thought. Sora grinned as he drew something else. Sasuke was no longer ignoring him, but peering curiously out of the corner of his eye.
The brunette drew him pictures for the rest of the period. Sasuke kept himself occupied by alternating staring at the clouds and watching Sora doodle.
Later, he'd teach Sora how to focus later, he decided.
Naruto was staring at the board waiting for the last twenty or so minutes to roll by. He had finished his assignment the first ten minutes into the class. He had used the remainder of the time studying his second band math Sensei, Leon. He was going to be his new special teacher after all.
He liked the man so far from what he had seen. He was fair in his lessons and he was lenient to a point. He tried to involve everyone in the discussions so his class was fairly lively. Math was normally torturously slow so Naruto was impressed with Leon's ability to hold his attention.
"For the remainder of the period I'd like to partner you up to complete one more short exercise. Your partners will remain permanent for the rest of the year so be sure to exchange information such as cell numbers and e-mail addresses. Once you're finished feel free to leave."
Naruto didn't mind working with another student... that was until he heard who his partner would be.
"Uzumaki Naruto and Arashi Riku." Naruto didn't even protest this time, it was futile he realized.
"Hey there," Riku greeted him.
Naruto wanted to say something, anything that would let Riku know that he wasn't going to take anymore insults from him. Although, as he thought about it he realized that Riku had never directly insulted him nor his brother. If he'd done it behind his back was a different story all together.
"Morning." He settled his thoughts and decided to let curiosity get the better of him. Naruto wanted to see what Riku would do if given the opportunity to redeem himself.
"So let's get started shall we?"
"You're being extremely nice for someone who's been chewed out not to long ago." Naruto gauged his reaction quietly.
"Eh... It's not in my nature to hold grudges." Riku shrugged. He seemed genuine enough Naruto deemed.
"Che whatever," The newly turned blond turned to work on the assignment. They spoke at minimal only asking questions when necessary. They made quite the team actually. Naruto grudgingly admitted that Riku was useful when he needed to be. The two teens were the first ones done.
As they submitted their paper Leon requested a favor. "If you guys aren't in a rush do you mind giving me a hand in my office?"
Naruto and Riku shared a quick look, "Sure thing." Naruto answered
"Not a problem Sensei." Riku nodded.
"Follow me then." Leon weaved his way through the students making his way towards the backroom.
He unlocked the door and allowed the two boys entry first before following them in. Naruto really should have been use to the grandeur of the whole place by now but he simply couldn't help his reaction. He stood rooted to the spot with his mouth slightly agape.
They were on the top floor of the school and all the walls seemed to be made of glass. The high roof was no exception; it formed a dome that was almost invisible to the naked eye. That meant the whole room was flooded with light and surrounded by the most breath taking view.
The expansive room seemed to be more of a living-quarter than an office. The room was designed studio style. Split in half, the side closest to the glass wall was elevated and had a single step up that lead to the more homey furnishings. On the lower level where they stood, a cherry wood desk with intricate carvings and black leather couches stood to the right side. On the left, polished wooden matching file cabinets occupied the walls closest to the wall dividing the classroom and here.
On the elevated level, a four poster bed sat off to the right side along with a dresser and two nightstands. Towards the center of the room a second elevated platform led to a beautiful but simple dining set. And to the left of the dining set there was a glass spiral staircase that led up to seemingly nowhere. But upon closer inspection there was a broad glass walkway that split into two different directions. One lead to a small platform big enough to comfortably seat a small class and the other lead to a door right above the one Naruto had just entered through, though it was cleverly hidden in the wine colored wall. He assumed it led to the bathroom.
"Do you like it?" Naruto was startled out of his revere by an amused voice.
Naruto noticed that Riku kicked off his shoes and draped himself across one of the leather chairs and had his eyes closed. He followed the example and took his off as well before slowly making his way to an unoccupied couch and sitting in it Indian-style.
He turned to Leon and voiced his concerns. "Theoretically speaking this room shouldn't even exist, should it? Not only are there no nails or screws, but there's no visible seams in this room. How is everything still standing?" Hey, he wasn't in advanced classes for nothin'. He could be smart when he so chose to be.
'Things in this school just keep getting weirder and weirder,' he thought.
"You are very observant." Leon noted pleased with the question.
"You're right this room was crafted by our people. Humans will never be able to create such a place. No matter how hard they try. Nor will they be able to see it. To them, when they walk in here it's just another small classroom,"
"Are there other rooms like this one?" he questioned again trying to take it all in. Naruto really had to get use to the idea of what normalcy was around here.
"Yes, there are a grand total of three rooms in this manor including Kakashi's room, my room, and the Gateway." Leon answered without missing a beat.
His answers were too readily given, Naruto realized. He narrowed his eyes and tried again.
"A gateway is not a room."
"Maybe, maybe not" Riku finally spoke up.
"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?"
"Nobody's ever actually seen it. We don't know where it is."
"Can't you just look for it outside?" Naruto incredulously asked.
"It's not that easy. Don't you think we've tried that?" The brunette made his way to an arm chair after disposing of his shoes as well.
"So how do you know there's another room if you've never seen it?"
"It's in the history books. They mentioned the gateway but it sounds more like a walkway then a room. Supposedly it was destroyed during the revolutionary period. But something of that magnitude doesn't just... disappear."
"Maybe it's because of that jutsu thing Sasuke was talking about, and what Revolution?" He was staring through the windows to avoid any eye contact. He was afraid that his composure would shatter when faced with the fresh memory of a terrifying emotion he'd never experienced before. Memories of that night bombarded his mind.
"What?" Riku abruptly sat up giving Naruto his undivided attention.
The quick movement startled him out of his thoughts. "Well the other day Sasuke and I ran into something and he said it was nothing but a miss used Jutsu. He wouldn't explain it but I assumed it had something to do with this manor." Naruto was hesitant to divulge any more information.
"Well Naruto, a jutsu is what's part of a series of powerful spells. They could do virtually anything. And that theory would have made sense if they still existed."
Naruto went rigid. "So you mean..."
"Whatever it was that you encountered, wasn't conjured by a spell... it was real."
TBC...
Side Notes
1) A bikkurishita- What a surprise!
2) Me o akete onegai! - Open your eyes please!
3) The Book is, Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King. I really liked it when we read it in my senior year of high school and I highly recommend it. Though I must warn you it's a giant monologue. I think it's the only story written in this particular style but it isn't boring in the least. (Well that's what I think)
REVIEW REPLIES:
-C-heese -C-ake -CC- I'm sorry this took so long but I finally got it out there. Did you enjoy it?
ayan – As always, one of my favorite reviewers ;) You probably want to beat me with a stick right now but that's okay I sit here and take it like I deserve it. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!
DarkRavie - It took me a while to get over my writers block so I wonder ow long this will last for.
wierdchick – Did you see your dedication? I love your reviews they get me off my ass and down to work! (err... wait that's the wrong thing to say, I have to sit on my ass to get down to work... You understand what I'm trying to say don't you?)
FOX IN THE ROUGH – Short and sweet, thanks for the review none the less ;)
angelloverkk – I hope this chapter clears it up a bit for you. They were placed under a spell of sorts. The reason for that yet isn't to clear but the boys have been hinting at it all through the story so far. If it still confuses you let me know and I'll try to explain it better.
Daisuke Kazamatsuri - ...Ducks and hides...I"M SORRY!...waves a white flag attached to a stick... I try to get it to my beta but every time I want to post I run late and feel really bad about keeping the fans waiting. So I say to hell with it and post it anyway. I love my Beta she's awesome! But I think like everyone else she'd rather read than look for errors. Was this chapter to your liking by the way?
GLASS NEKO – Thank you for the review, hope you like this chapter.
dimond fox – Thanks a bunch for the review ;)
Nusku – Don't feel bad about the whole Kyuubi idea, I'm sure one of us will think of something. Did ya like the chapter? I hope it explained things a little more clearly
mimiru-motomia – Sorry here's your update, hope it wasn't to late.
Kittyv2 – O.O whoa good questions...luck for you I can answer some of them, hehehe, Lets see if the boys made their own gang then their order would have to be 1) Naruto and Ginji (they rank the same) 2)Sora and Kazuki (Sora's a little stronger than Kazuki) As for their gang name...hhmmm..I'm not going to spoil that one just yet... And for all the gangs names, it's not really important to the plot. You'll see why as the story goes on. Damn I guess that means I only answered one question...sweatdrop...sorry!
blue-eyed-blond227 – Heh glad you like it! I'm a really huge fan of both and I was disappointed when I saw nobody else wrote one. So I took matters into my own hands, and well now you have a story!