Guest: Menma is Chara, he's the counterpart to Naruto.

Chapter 17: Forever isn't so long...

"Or you'll what?"

'Damn it, why'd this have to happen now?!' "I'll tell you later!" He used the worker's beefy head as footing and jumped off of her.

Mettaton furrowed his brows. "Human! Where do you think you're going?!"

No answer. He looked at Alphys and she sighed.

"H-human! Where are you going exactly?" She hollered.

"..."

"He says, he's going to find a bathroom."

"..."

"Because he has to pee."

"Oh huh, never heard of doing that before. It must be a human thing,"

"It is actually..I mean...n-not that I know what it is."

"Isn't that the usual excuse? Come on, you know everything there is about human things."

'He says that like it's a good thing.'

The long platform following L3 elevator's entrance was a popular spot among Hotland monsters. Having been in a position where you can get a stunning view of the core floating idly in the sea, along with the warm glow from the molten rock giving it a special rustic edge photographers literally drooled over.

However, at the exceedingly fast pace Naruto was going, he didn't even notice the core's existence, finding a bathroom was the only thing that registered in his mind at the moment. 'Oh man, that shitty woman is right behind me!'

"That's it, I'm tired of chasing after this twerp!" She pounded the ground and Naruto fell on the ground. A series of mini earthquakes ensued while he attempted to get himself back on his feet with

"S-stop shaking the ground or it's gonna all come ouuuut!"

"Quit yer whining, human!" She said, leaping into the polluted air.

'At least the shaking stopped...but not her!' Naruto rolled to the side just before she could smash him like a pancake and the collision sent him flying onto the green connectors.

His face smushed into the crossed section of the bars. 'There's no way I'm getting up, might as well just go right here.' He slid his arms the openings and reached for his shorts.

"Don't think I'm done with you just yet!" She tore the connector straight from the platform and held it high.

Naruto's arms swung above him, his hands instead grabbing onto the air. She started shaking the connector back and forth, but his body practically glued itself on there. "Looks like you're all tangled up in that! Lemme fix that!" She flung the connector and it buried itself a grave in the grounds beside the steam puzzle.

'I better hurry before she catches up!' He pried himself off and ran along the broken conveyer belt right by it. He spotted something pink lodged right in the middle of the contraption. 'Whoa! That's a part of Mettaton's leg and I know just what to do with it!'

Past the puzzle fixture, Naruto could see a glimmer of hope; L2 elevator. 'I'll lose her in the elevator, then I can finally pee!'

Sans chuckled as Naruto whizzed past his sentry station without even muttering a quick hello. 'I wonder what trouble he's gotten himself into now?' His answer came in the form of a colossal monster stomping past. 'That kid...well, at least she managed to finally get that snow off the roof.'

Naruto rammed his head into the elevator button. 'Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry—'

*ding

"Haha! Later ya fatso!" He stuck his tongue out as the elevator door closed. When the door came to a close he breathed a sigh of relief, there was at least one thing off his mind while in the car. But he didn't appreciate the bland pop music drowning his eardrums. 'That goddamn music, I hate taking this elevator! Uhhh, why couldn't this be a bathroom instead?!'

'Oh...gah...the shaking's back?! What the hell is she doing this time?!'

*ding

He ran out of the car and saw her scaling down the elevator base. 'Damn it! Doesn't anything stop her?!'

"HUMAN!"

'Uuuh, I can't focus on her right now!' Naruto scurried as far from L2 elevator as he could. His eyes quickly scanning the desolate terrain for any places to pee and they locked onto another construction site working to rebuild MTT cooking studio. 'I can lose her in there!'

Naruto held his breath, then powered through the yellow 'DANGER ZONE' tape lining the area, the construction lady unfortunately following not too far behind.

Of course by pulling such a dangerous stunt he expected some angry glares here and there, but not to be stopped completely from a pair of his sweaty hands wringing his neck. "Gotcha! You're the human Mettaton always talks badly about, because you didn't do your job I have to work here and—"

Naruto swiveled his around to avoid the monster's musty hot dog breath. "Cut the boring lecture, gramps and let me go!"

"Wait...is that his leg you're holding?! You killed him, didn't you, you lousy human!"

"I—"

"LET. GO. OF. HIM."

"Yikes!" He let Naruto go and went back to hammering in the nails. 'Yeesh, that human brings nothing but trouble, when is he gonna drop dead already like the rest of them?!'

The construction lady swiped Naruto. Whether it was the crushing force of her hand or the blazing heat from the fire he died in an instant.

'I guess he dropped dead right now? Huh, well then about time.'

She unraveled her palm to collect her prize, but found Mettaton's leg mashed down to bits and pieces, not a human soul like she expected. A clench of her fist reduced the pieces to dust particles. 'He's definitely a ninja alright. Damn.'

OoO

Naruto finally found a spot to pee just a few short jumps away from the construction site. He removed his hands from his crotch and they went to work with unzipping the shorts. 'Sweet, sweet relief, finally! Aaaaah,'

*stomp

'Eh, probably nothing.'

*STOMP

He clocked his head around. 'I-It's her again?! But I'm still peeing!'

"What're ya standing there fer, human?" Her breathing was erratic, possibly from a blend of anger and the fact that she was winded down to the magical core. The lady made an exasperated smile. "You finally tired a livin'? Good."

Sweat rolled off Naruto's face. "No, uh..." He ran away while still peeling just before a fireball could burn his head down. 'I know what I can do, it's stupid, but it's my only choice at this point!'

'The storage room where all this mess happened in the first place, then whatever this place with all the, oh, yeah...she...flew me over all this stuff...and I met her here at these steam puzzle things and last, the convert belt where the volcano thing almost killed me.' He stopped, waiting for the construction to catch up, when she was in clear view, he started running again.

While his peeing was wholly done at this point, he still managed to get some of the yellow liquid on the machine. 'Hehe. She'll and fall down the holes the volcano thing made awhile back, it's a really stupid plan, but I know it'll work.'

The second her flaming foot stepped on the machine, it shattered under immense pressure and the entire conveyer belt fell down. His urine had no effect on her demise whatsoever. "...or that happens. Whatever, it's still a win for me!"

'Now that all of that's over I'm going back to the lab...but I'm never going back to the construction site, I don't ever wanna be humiliated like that ever again.'

OoO

"And then they made me give everyone water because that dumb human never came back! Don't they know who I am?!"

"I-I'm sure they don't...DO...I mean do. I'm sure they just have high expectations for a star like you?"

"That's probably it!"

The laboratory slid open. "That's weird, the lights are already on..." Alphys muttered to herself, walking around.

"Obviously the human's here, it's not like he has anywhere else to go," Mettaton said.

"B-b-but what if he got-so b-bored with me...that he ran away to go hangout with—"

*Huugggggh

*Huuggg-hic

Right on cue, Naruto rose from the couch, taking no effort to wipe the drool seeping from his mouth, he rolled off his makeshift bed and staggered towards the bathroom door.

"You're going in th-there?" Alphys blankly asked.

"Yeah? I..um...gotta take another leak, it won't take long, kay~"

"Actually, umm...it's broke, yeah, don't go through that door...ever...at all...or you'll die, and go to hell, forever," Alphys said.

"Ok, ok, jeez!" He scurried towards the exit, meanwhile Mettaton scurried towards the couch, tired as hell from work.

"Really?" Mettaton swept the empty ramen cups onto the ground. "That human's so disgusting!"

"Uh huh..." 'That was too close, if the human ever found out what was really in there, I don't think he'd ever forgive me...or worse...he might...'

*slide

"What's up?" Naruto asked, scratching himself in unmentionable places as he walked back inside.

Mettaton waved to him. "You know, I had to take over as water boy while you were off running around, can you even believe it, someone like me doing a job like that?"

"Hey Alphys, how far are they done with building?"

'THAT GODDAMN BRAT!'

"Uh well, I guess they're pretty far, I wasn't really paying attention that much...at all..."

"Oh, huh, I hope the builders aren't slowpokes, I want it to be done as soon as possible!"

"Y-yeah, say, do you want to watch some anime with me? Since...you're not doing anything..."

"Sure."

"R-really?! Good, I think you'll like this one!" 'I hope he likes this one, I haven't watched it myself, I only read the manga.'

*Several minutes later

[Random guy with no significance to the story whatsoever] 大きい尻が好き! 大きい尻が好き! 大きい尻が好き! (I like big ass)

[Main protagonist's hot friend] 痴漢! (literally means stupid man, but in this case pervert)

*brutal beat down ensues

[Someone who is clearly unaware of his surroundings] Can anyone explain to me what's going on?

'Wow. This anime is so generic, I'm sure the human hates it by now!' "S-so, human, I bet you hate it, don't you?"

With Mettaton gone by the time the credits started rolling, Naruto was a lot more acceptable to watching whatever weird show Alphys put on, at least, to an extent. "Wha- No way! That girl's friend is suuuuuper hot!"

'She's no Undyne but I guess I can see why he likes her. Huh, what's this? What is she doing? She's looks she's turning into a...'

"Ninja! Look, look Alphys, she's totally going full ninja mode to sneak up on the guy while he's still asleep!"

'So it went from cheesy slice-of-life to action packed drama in literally two scenes?' "That's...something..."

"Whoa she's walking on the ceiling now with no hands...I can do that too, can't I?"

"I don't see why not, they are assassins after all, an ability like that would be pretty important." There was underlying spite in Alphys' voice as she said 'assassin' that Naruto remembered hearing when Kid first found out about Naruto's organic qualities.

Naruto sunk into the couch, a pang of regret churning in his gut. 'Mettaton was right, I can't forget I'm still a human and Alphys is still a monster. We're still technically enemies to each other...right?'

Alphys looked at Naruto's pained face and he quickly looked the other way. "I-I'm sorry, I sounded really...not nice there. If I help you with that as...ninja trick you wanted to learn, you'll forgive me, right? I mean, I'm not a ninja, but I know a lot more about them than I ever wanted to. So?"

OoO

*crack

Naruto's latest attempt left another dent on the lab's outer wall, right alongside the dozen's of other dents Alphys would later dread having to fix. "That's better than the last time...I think," Alphys said. "Just use less of that chalk the next time!"

"Chakra," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

'Maybe practicing on the royal lab wasn't the best idea...I feel like this is gonna bite me in the butt later.'

*[Mew mew kissy kitty opening 3 plays]

'It's Undyne again! She's been calling me so much, but I always hang up before I can say anything romantic, but-but not this time!' "H-h-hey Un-Und-Undyne! You're really...hhhhot!" Alphys hacked up.

"...I'm really hot?"

"I meant it's really hot, it's really how here, whew! I-I guess that's why they call it Hotland!"

Alphys knew something was up when she heard Undyne emit a weak, restrained laughter. "Is...there something wrong, Undyne?"

"You know Pyrope?"

"P-personally, like have I ever talked to him before?"

"You don't have to know that, you just have to know what he did."

"That's right, the bomb thing he did."

"The reason I called you, the main reason I called you, is to tell you he's...dead. I didn't kill him...I would never kill a monster...he...did it to himself and, I want you to tell the human, he has to know...I'm counting on you."

[Call ended]

Her phone dripped with sweat as she put it back in her lab coat pocket.

*crack

Naruto landed back down on the rock hard ground. "That must of been Undyne again, what she bother you about this time?" 'Why is she sweating buckets? I'm the one doing all the hard work here!'

"...it's about Pyrope."

"Pyrope?"

"He's...he's a jerk! Y-you have to beat him up!"

"You okay Alphys? You don't look so well."

"I'm fine it's nothing...I...I just need sleep." She hurried back into the lab.

"Huh okay," Naruto went in for his hundredth try already and he, like all the other times, fell straight back down. "Oh yeah! I totally went higher that time around!"

Although it was one thing, Naruto took his training seriously, he wasn't a stranger to working hard as it was something he had to do his entire life. His vigorous training would often push him through the black night and leave him exhausted enough to sleep even on the cold ground.

This time was no different, after training, he exhausted every drop of his energy and fell like a corpse on the ground from making one last dent on the wall.

'All those kids back at home...they always laughed at me...but all the kids here try to kill me but I still think I like it here better. If sensei were here then it be complete...sensei...'

'I hope they notice I'm gone now, at least, I hope they notice it's quieter than usual. Even if they don't, they'll all know my name one day.'

'Dream on. No one's going to know your name if you don't get out of here soon.'

Naruto woke up to the smell of hot ramen tugging at his nose. He got up and found a cup of ramen sitting by him with a note attached to it which he skimmed through. 'Stop ruining the lab and learn your ninja trick already.

P.S. And don't die either.

-MTT.'

Though the thought of ramen delighting his taste buds tempted him, he soundly decided to not even look at the cup's general direction. 'I rather starve than eat anything he makes.'

XxxxXxx

-Snowdin-

**Hours earlier**

Undyne and Papyrus tirelessly set up a shrine of stolen food, (then later bought for) from Grillby's. As a final touch, Papyrus wrapped his own blanket around the food, then crouched behind the couch where Undyne was stationed. She handied herself with a spear just in case the perpetrator would be tougher than they imagined.

"How long will this take?" Papyrus whispered.

"Hours, sometimes days, who knows."

"What if we get hungry?"

"Then we'll just snag some from the pile. It's not like they won't come if we take a few fries."

"Or cold?"

"Don't be a baby, we're cops now, cops don't get cold."

"That's fine, I don't think skeletons can get cold anyways..."

"So what were you complaining about?!"

*Creeeeek

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, check it out, Pappy."

Papyrus gripped the couch, he peered over the edge then sat straight back down.

"Well, who is it?"

He leaned in towards Undyne. "It's just my brother."

"Sans? Isn't he supposed to be at Hotland?"

"I'm taking a break now." Papyrus and Undyne shuddered from Sans' abrupt appearance, he always had an affinity for scaring people like that.

Sans started off with a round of his usual chuckle them let his arms fall back on the couch. "What're you guys doing back here?"

"If you must know, we're doing a stakeout in order to catch the guys who's been robbing me." Papyrus explained.

"They're outside," Sans supplied. He slid off the couch and headed upstairs.

Undyne threw open the door and dashed outside into the knee length snow. The monsters Sans mentioned were lying helplessly on the snow, the only thing moving, although the slowly, was their barebone chest . '...! I know these guys, they're the teenagers I beat up, what're they doing in Snowdin?'

"Wowie, they're all just a bunch of kids! I can't believe they were talented enough to steal from me!" Papyrus exclaimed, catching a peek over Undyne's hunched back.

"Are they sleeping?"

"No," Said a trembling voice belonging to the monster dressed in flames and a fuku. She tried putting her hand out on the snow but it melted. 'I hate this place so much.' "It was your brother, he caught us trying to sneak into your house and...stopped...us." She motioned to the gang of froggits scattered behind.

"Why were you trying to sneak in my house in the first place? You could've just asked and I would've gladly given you my spaghetti!" Papyrus said with a smile that could melt the snow.

"We're...we're sorry...we couldn't take any chances and..." She started trembling.

"Are you okay?"

"It's...I mean...I'm fine-I'm fine."

"Can you tell us why you stole from Papyrus in the first place?"

"I guess...it's only fair you know..after...after we heard about what happened to Tsundereplane...about how she d-died, we couldn't live with ourselves after that and so, me, Pyrope, and all the froggits ran away as far as we could and promised never to go back there. It's been so hard...living everyday..."

"Pyrope would beat up monsters and steal their gold, just to feed us, we were...desperate...then one day, he just couldn't take the pain of living with the guilt of her death...so...now he's...he's...dead. Stealing from you was the only way we could possibly live."

Undyne blankly stared at the girl for the longest time, not big able to resonate her mixed feelings made her mutter a pasty 'I'm sorry' and turn herself away from the monster's tear streaked face. 'These damn teenagers...I wish things could've worked out better for them.'

"...In that case, you can steal from me any time you want, but...I think you should go back to Hotland whenever you're ready...I'm sure there's someone there important to you," Papyrus said.

'He...doesn't look mad at all?' The girl groveled down and repeated the words 'thank you' over and over again like a broken record while Papyrus simply smiled.

'I couldn't live with himself if any of my friends ever did that to themselves, especially...' Undyne reached for her phone.

XxxxXxx

-Hotland-

**Present time**

Mettaton poured himself a cup of MTT-brand fabulous flavored tea. 'I haven't seen Alphys since yesterday when she locked herself in the bathroom. I do hope she comes out of there soon, I don't want to go to the construction site alone that's for sure.'

*pound

*pound

Ripples swirled in Mettaton's tea, though it was a nuisance to hear the occasional pounding noise bounce off the lab's hollow walls, he eventually got used it. 'The human must be at it again. I'm not sure why he couldn't of learned something quiet like yoga, haha, but I bet he'd still manage to make a ruckus out of it. Speaking of...'

He poked his head out of the lab door to see Naruto striking another mark on the wall. 'Hey, wait!' He spotted an empty ramen container tilted on the wall as well. 'He actually ate the food I cooked...'

A/N: No, Alphys didn't kill herself and the start of Muffet battle will be next chapter. I'm really excited for that!