Ouch, Ouch, ouch… Dammit. I've done it now… Why didn't I listen to my instinct and decide to do something else for that party…

Dammit, Eiki and Yukari seriously know how to hit so it will hurt and you won't die… Ouch, Ouch, Ouch… Anyway here is the chapter, Ouch, dammit my shoulder, my back my everything…

On with the story… I need to see Eirin for medicine… Enjoy the chapter...

Stage 9

An Enemy

『The first enemy appears. Will this encounter turn into disaster?』

Konoha, Naru's household, two days after the party at the Hunted Hotel

Naru was sitting in the main room drinking tea. The party had been… odd, if she could say so herself. The first part had been good but the Hunted Hotel hadn't gone so well. Youmu was still angry at the author (A/N: I don't care about fixing that damn fourth wall anymore! (°ㅂ° ╬) ) and slightly at Naru as well.

Naru sighed and looked outside. Today, the weather was the same as ever, a sunny day, without much clouds or wind. It was calm, slightly too calm for Naru taste. The village was, as always, quiet and peaceful, the opposite of what it was like in Gensokyo. Maybe she should go and visit someone there.

Or maybe not. After the party, everybody had still not gotten used to the information that they had a second Yukari among them. Naru took another sip from her tea cup and sighed. Then the doors opened, revealing Sakuya with tea in her hand. She smiled and sat at the table, on the opposite side to Naru. She looked at Naru.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. Naru puffed with a smirk and lay on the ground, placing an arm on her forehead.

"Bored~. It's too quiet. If Chen was here it would be less quiet. I'm not used to this kind of silence," Naru said. Sakuya chuckled behind her hand and took a sip of tea before she responded.

"Don't worry, Naru. Soon you will graduate and your ninja life will begin. I can guarantee it will be more entertainment than it is right now," Sakuya said with a smile. Naru looked at Sakuya and shook her head.

"This is where you are wrong." Sakuya looked at Naru.

"Ohhh~. Why you think so?" she asked with a smile. Naru could say she was teasing her with her smile.

"Because fresh Genins don't go out on missions. No. It's wrong. Genins are going to missions but..." Naru didn't finish but, on her face, a frown appeared. Sakuya raised an eyebrow.

"But?"

"Genins do D rank missions. But it would be wrong to call them missions. More like chores. Repairing fences, do painting, throw out the trash. You name them," Naru said, waving her hand before she rested it on the ground.

"But they paid you for them, right?" Sakuya said.

"That's right. You could say these missions are easy money, but still..." Naru's frown became more visible. She rose and gulped her tea in one mouthful. She sighed and looked at the calendar. She felt hungry. Sakuya heard it.

"Maybe I should prepare you something?" she proposed.

"Thank you, but no. I guess it's not hunger you can satisfy with a normal meal." Naru said with a sad smile.

"So, it's time?" Sakuya asked with a serious expression. Naru nodded.

"Well, it can't be helped. I'm youkai. It's just the order of things." Naru smiled brightly. Sakuya smiled back.

"True. So, maybe I should hunt someone for you?" Sakuya asked but Naru shook her head.

"Don't. I don't want you to do it," Naru said with small smile. Sakuya smiled.

"But it's not a problem. In the Scarlet Mansion I was making meals from humans," Sakuya said. Naru nodded.

Of course she knew about that. She had made her first meal with human flesh. Back then, when Flandre had explained that to her. But she didn't want Sakuya to do it. She couldn't tell why, but for some reason she didn't want Sakuya to do it, as though it could cause something Naru didn't want.

Naru was so deep in thoughts that she didn't notice Sakuya in front of her. Her face was only a few inches from Naru face. When she finally noticed, she blushed madly. Sakuya smiled.

"You're worrying about me, right? That this would change me. Change in a way you don't want, right?" Sakuya asked. Naru couldn't help but nod. The blush was still visible on her face. Sakuya chuckled and placed her hand on Naru's check.

"Don't worry. As long as you're yourself, I will be myself. That's a promise." Sakuya touched Naru with her forehead. Naru blushed madly. She couldn't help it. Sakuya's face was touching her. The warmth she was feeling, it was something pleasant, something she wanted to keep safe.

Sakuya moved away from Naru and smiled once more before she walked out of the room, leaving Naru behind. Naru shook her head to calm down.

"Jeez, she knows how to tease me..." Naru pouted to herself. Naru touched her forehead and couldn't help but smile to herself. This feeling was one she wanted to keep safe. The doors opened revealing Kurama in her usually kimono. Her fox ears and tails were visible. She was looking at the corridor where Sakuya was walking.

"Did something happen between you two?" she asked. Naru blushed but smiled.

"Nothing~" Naru responded. Kurama raised her eyebrows but sighed.

"I see. Anyway, I prepared a snack, want some?" She put down a plate with rice balls. Naru jumped to grab one and started eating it with smile. Kurama couldn't help but imagine Naru with fox ears and a tail. It was shaking vigorously from happiness. Kurama blushed at that imagine. She hid her face with her hands to calm down.

Naru didn't notice Kurama's blush because she was too focused at the rice balls which Kurama had made. After a few seconds, Kurama turned back to Naru.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. Naru stopped in the middle of eating.

"I'm hungry, but normal meals won't be enough," she said with slightly sad voice. Kurama understood what Naru had said. She was going to say something but Naru spoke ahead.

"Don't bother, Sakuya went to catch someone." Kurama could tell she wasn't happy when she said that.

"Are you concerned about Sakuya doing that?" Kurama asked with worry. Naru nodded.

"She is human. Of course, here she would probably kill more, but I don't want her to do it because of my hunger. In defense yes, but not because of such a trivial matter," Naru said, putting down her unfinished rice ball. Kurama couldn't help but sigh with a smile.

"You're good girl, you know that." Naru looked at Kurama, slightly surprised.

"You're worried about her, about me, about our well being. You try to do everything by yourself. Even at the party, even if you had that happy face on when you were telling us to do something, I could feel you didn't want us to do it." Kurama touched herself where her heart was.

"Thanks to the Shikigami Contract I can feel what you feel. I can name the feelings you're feeling when such situations appears. Even if you're Yukari-sama daughter and has adopted some of her personality, you're still different. You're still a person who cares about her family, friends, everyone you know. You maybe don't like humans much, but you care about Sakuya. And myself. You're a person who doesn't like to command others if you can do it yourself or the situation doesn't force you to do it. I know the feelings you have when you command another. Guilt, shame, sadness, worry. These feelings are in your heart when you order us. Or when you try, I should say." Kurama looked at Naru who had her head low from shame because of what Kurama had said.

Kurama chuckled and moved closer to Naru. She hugged her.

"You don't need to feel such feelings. I'm your shikigami, and I will follow you wherever you go. That's why you don't need worry about me or Sakuya. She probably would say something similar. Remember, we are here for you," Kurama said while patting Naru's head. Naru blushed and burrowed herself deeper in Kurama's hug to hide her blushing face.

Kurama chuckled and kept patting Naru for a while. Soon Sakuya returned with the body of a middle aged man. Kurama took the body and went to prepare something. Like Ran, she was quite a genius cook. She could prepare a delicious meal with almost anything. Sakuya was also a good cook. Sometimes they even competed to see who was better.

The food which they couldn't eat, and that hardly ever happened because of the astonish appetite of Naru and Kurama, they gave to Yuyuko. Youmu had thanked them because sometimes she was too tired to prepare anything. And Naru knew how much of a big glutton Yuyuko was.

After the meal, Sakuya had chicken meat by the way, they decided to stay in the house and get rest. To the end of the day, nothing happened.

Next day

Naru woke up, slightly tired, but overall she had gotten a nice sleep. She prepared herself and went to the main room where Kurama was placing dishes for a meal. She greeted Naru with a smile.

"Good morning, Naru-san."

"Morning, we need something strong to wake me up. I slept quite well, and waking up was the worst part, and now I'm feeling slightly tired." Naru complained while she sat down. Kurama nodded and prepared her cup of black coffee. Naru didn't like the taste but she forced herself to drink it. She sighed with a shake of her head and muttered to herself.

"I will never get used to coffee..." Kurama chuckled. Soon Sakuya entered the room. She looked much better than Naru, almost like she had slept a few more hours. Then Naru slapped herself mentally.

"Of course, time stop..." she muttered to herself so Sakuya and Kurama couldn't hear. Unexpectedly a gap opened next to them. Naru raised her eyebrows and Kurama and Sakuya looked at themselves, wondering why there was a gap. Soon from it, Yukari emerged with a drunk Suika on her shoulder.

Naru winced at this sight but didn't say anything. Sakuya didn't say anything and Kurama crossed her arms.

"Hello~! How is the day~?" Yukari asked with a full smile. Nobody answered her.

"You know, I visit you so you could answer maybe huh," she said with a pout. Everyone just sighed.

"What kind of reaction is that!?" Yukari shouted, shocked. Naru sighed.

"So why are you here?" she asked. Yukari looked hurt.

"Why so mean..." She looked really hurt but soon she regained her posture. "I brought Suika here so you could take care of her for time been," Yukari explained.

"Ehhh. Wait, wait, wait. Are you serious?" Naru asked. Yukari nodded with a smile.

"She will help you if you need it. I asked her for that. She will gladly take sake as payment," Yukari pointed out.

"I don't know how to respond to that," Naru thought with a confused and annoyed expression. Yukari also pulled out a book from gap and gave it to Kurama.

"This is cook book, Ran prepared it for you. There new culinary recipes Ran found not too long ago and also some old ones as well. She said you still hadn't remembered them." She gave Kurama the book with a smile. Kurama blushed slightly but thanked Yukari. Then Yukari pulled another item from the gap, this time for Sakuya.

She immediately recognize the item. It was the same knife she had used when the incident with Miracle Mallet happened. Yukari gave the knife to Sakuya.

"You forgot about it. Don't do it, or it will get angry. This knife has a consciousness, it will be better if you have it. Only you know how to properly use it. After all it was with you for the whole time, you just weren't aware of it," Yukari said with a smile. Sakuya nodded gratefully. Naru didn't expect anything from her mother. Yukari turned to Naru.

"As I said, I will leave Suika with you. She will help you as much as she can. Maybe, she will help in your training, after all Oni are really strong. And don't even mention one of the Devas of the Mountain," Yukari said. That caught Naru attention but before she could say anything Yukari disappeared into gap, leaving no trace behind.

Naru looked at the sleeping oni which was laying on the floor like she was in some kind of party. The three girls looked at themselves not knowing what to do with the Oni.

"Let's just leave her for now. We will deal with it when she wakes up," Naru said and stood up, leaving for academy. In two weeks, her teaching at the academy would be over. How fast time flies, so fast that years were turning into days.

At the Academy

Naru walked into call and noticed that almost everyone was here. She sat in her place and tried to relax, looking at outside. She could swear that time had stopped, that only she was aware that time could make things easy or hard. Because many things depend on it: human lives, reaction time, days and night, life, and many more. But time didn't touch her like humans. She was youkai, she would live a long life, perhaps a happy life, perhaps not. Time would tell.

Naru smirked to herself and sighed. Then the doors opened with a long bang. Naru covered her ears and looked at who had made the noise. But Naru could already guess who this could be. And of course she was right. Banshee and Pig-tail blonde. How she hated them. Always thinking about this whole Sasuke Uchiha thing; that he is so cool and everything like that. Honestly, that Uchiha wouldn't stand a chance against her and don't even mention Sakuya and Kurama. Those two would massacre him.

If someone called another strong, that mean he was really strong or at least that person could prove so. But this Uchiha was living on his family name, thinking that the world owed him everything because of what happened to his family. He wouldn't stand a chance in Gensokyo. Maybe against fairies but not youkais.

Naru tried her best to ignore the shouts of those two. God, please. Let Iruka come faster. Naru begged mentally. And a miracle happened. The bell rang and a few seconds later, Iruka came. Naru would need to thank Sanae because of this small, yet helpful miracle. Iruka coughed to catch everyone's attention. A miracle happened again. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Iruka. Sanae deserved a big bag of money for this.

"Ok, class. In only half a year and most of you will join Konoha Ninja Corp. But it's still a long road before you. You are still are children but if you train hard and focus, I'm sure you will become splendid ninja who will represent our village with pride. Now today we will do another sparring session. Class follow me," he said.

On academy training ground

Everyone was standing in a large group in front of Iruka. Mizuki was absent because he had something to do.

Sakuya appeared on screen.

"Toki yo Tomare!" And time stopped. She pulled out a sign with words.

"Author forget to mention him in the first place. He is still a little prick like he was in the original. Author just thought he was so minor, he is not worthy of mentioning. Thank you for understanding."

Sakuya hid the sign and walked away. A second later her hand appeared in the corner.

"Soshite Toki wa Ugokidasu," she said. And she snapped her fingers, leaving no trace she was ever there.

Iruka looked at everyone.

"Ok, we gonna do some duels. I will select who will spar with who. It will be mixed, so boys could fight against girls. But that doesn't mean someone should hold back. If I spot that happening, that person will get an essay to write for tomorrow, got it?" Iruka asked with a grin. Everyone nodded except a few people, including Naru.

She was thinking whether she should still hold back. This was getting annoying, even if it was for short amount of time. Naru pinched herself to focus. Maybe at least taijutsu. Maybe at least in this she could go all out. Or better not, she would kill someone. Spell Card rules didn't apply here. She clicked her tongue. It looked like she would need to still hold back.

While she was thinking, Iruka announced one more thing.

"Every one of you will do matches. Summary, if it's a boy he will fight one fight with a girl and secondly with a boy. The same applies to girls. So the first fight is between Uchiha Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba."

"Yosh! It's my time to shine!" Kiba said with a confident smirk. Uchiha just "Hum-ed" and both of then got into the ring. Both of them looked at each other, one with a grin, the other with focus. Iruka checked if both were ready and gave them a signal to begin.

Kiba charged at Sasuke with his fist aimed at Sasuke's chin. Sasuke avoided the fist and tried to counterattack but Kiba ducked and tried to kick Sasuke while he was doing a back flip. But Sasuke blocked the kick and grabbed Kiba's leg.

"Dammit!" Kiba said with gritted teeth and tried to spin to release his leg, but this only helped Sasuke throw Kiba away. Kiba quickly recovered and, spinning in mid-air, he landed on the ground, a few millimeters from the end of the ring. He gave a glance and sighed.

"That was close," he said and turned back to face Sasuke only to get kicked in the stomach from him. Kiba spat saliva and flew away from the ring. Sasuke just gave a glance and walked away. Kiba, holding his stomach, grunted but didn't say anything.

"The winner, Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka declared. The girls started shouting and squealing. This brought Naru back to reality. She gave a glance at what happened but didn't say anything. She only thought about how stupid those girls were.

"Next match is between Naru Yakumo and Hinata Hyuuga. Both of you, please step onto the ring," Iruka said. Naru walked into the ring with no expression on her face. Hinata was doing the same.

"Naru put away your things," Iruka said. Naru quickly gave Iruka a glance before she threw her things at Iruka, who caught them. She then turned to the Hyuuga girl. Hinata got into her family stance, but Naru only crossed her hand.

"Are you ready?" Iruka asked. Hinata only tensed more, while Naru only nodded slightly.

"Then FIGHT!" Iruka shouted. But both Naru and Hinata didn't move from their positions. They kept glancing at each other, waiting who would loose patience first.

"You know, I remember," Hinata then said, making Naru raise an eyebrow. Naru kept looking impassive. "Now I finally put things together. You're the daughter of that Yakumo women." Hinata frowned more with anger painted on her face and rising anger in her voice.

"You're the daughter of the woman who killed my father years ago!" Hinata shouted with a red face because of the anger in her and tears in her eyes. Naru only blinked, still impassive and responded.

"That's right. I didn't bother with this because I had nothing to do with it. However." Naru frowned and said, "Looks like you want to release this anger on me, right? Revenge, am I right?" She knew she was right when Hinata tensed more, her hand shaking with anger. Naru smirked. "Yare, Yare. Looks like I finally have an enemy in the academy. An enemy who maybe will be worthy to be my enemy. He he he," Naru chuckled at the end with an evil face.

Everyone was shocked, listening to the conversation. Iruka had sweat on his face, feeling that this wouldn't end well. He was ready to stop this match if it got out of hand.

Hinata couldn't stand it anymore and charged with a loud shout. Naru smirked at Hinata's charge. Naru decided that in taijutsu and subject like taijutsu and throwing shurikens she wouldn't be holding back anymore. It was time to show what she was capable off. At least to some degree.

*Yawn*

In Naru's Household

Suika woke up from sleeping with a loud yawn. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She didn't recognize the place at all. She yawned one more time before she stood up and sloppy walked around, rubbing her eye. She opened the door and walked down the corridor. Suddenly she heard fire to her right. She opened the door and saw a bonfire in the middle of the room.

Above it was hung a teapot on metal pipe. Next to the bonfire was sat a woman with fiery red hair which was long enough to reach her knees. Her kimono was also red with orange flames at the end of the sleeves and at the bottom of the kimono. She also had an orange obi around her waist. She was sitting in front of the bonfire, probably waiting for the water to be ready.

But what caught Suika's attention were the fox ears on the woman's head and the nine fox tails.

"Did Ran change her appearance?" Suika thought, while coming closer. The woman didn't turn but did speak.

"I see you're awake? Want some tea?" she asked. Suika didn't reply but sat next to the women. She looked at the bonfire with slightly closed eyes.

"How was your sleep?" the woman asked.

"Good. The last thing I remember was Yukari taking me somewhere." Suika scratched her head. She remembered that Yukari had also asked her for a favor which was about Naru but that party had been so good she had forgetten the details. The teapot gave a high pitched squeak, giving a sign that the water was ready. The woman grabbed the teapot and prepared tea in cups.

"We didn't expect Yukari-sama to bring you here. I was surprised, I must say." The woman smiled at Suika and gave her tea. Suika nodded and grabbed her tea. She took a sip.

"Good tea. Almost as good as Reimu," Suika said. The woman giggled.

"Thank you," the woman said and took a sip of her tea. Suika looked at the woman.

"Did you change appearance, Ran?" she asked. The woman looked surprised and looked at Suika. She looked at her before she giggled. Suika raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"No, no. You got it wrong. I'm not Ran-san," she said.

"My name is Kurama. Nice to meet you Suika Ibuki." Kurama smiled. Suika had her eyes slightly wide open before they returned to normal. She chuckled.

"Sorry about that. It's just I don't remember any other nine tail fox in Gensokyo. I think I remember a few fox youkais but they don't have many tails. Four at max," Suika explained.

"It's no surprise. There aren't a lot of foxes who survive to reach more than five tails. Nine tail foxes are rare these days. Maybe in Gensokyo there will be more of them soon? It depends on how they behave," Kurama said and took a sip of tea and gave a blissful sigh.

"By the way, where am I?" Suika asked.

"You're in Naru house in Konoha. Here was the party, that most of Gensokyo resident came to, thanks to Yukari-sama," Kurama said. She grabbed a piece of wood which was near her and put it in the bonfire.

"Ohhh. I see," Suika said. "By the way, where is Naru?" Suika looked at Kurama.

"In the Academy. She will be back late afternoon," Kurama explained.

"Ohhh. Well, I guess there is nothing to do, then," Suika said and took another sip of tea. She looked at the tea.

"Now I remember the favor Yukari asked me earlier," she said to herself.

Back to the fight

Hinata threw a punch at Naru, thinking it would collide with Naru's face. But Naru just caught Hinata's arm and with the help of Hinata charge, she threw her out of the ring right into the tree. Hinata shouted from pain and fell on the ground, clenching her ribs. Naru chuckled and walked away for her things, with a smirk.

"Wait! It's not over!" Hinata shouted. She slowly rose from the ground. Naru turned to her. Her smirk was gone, replaced by an impassive expression.

"You lose. I threw you out of the ring. If I'm not mistaken, it means a loss. Am I right, Iruka-sensei?" Naru asked. Iruka nodded, still worried about the relationship between Hinata and Naru.

"I refuse!" Hinata shouted, trying to charge at Naru but Iruka stopped her, grabbing her by the arm.

"Give in. You are in no condition to continue," Iruka said with worry. Hinata gritted her teeth but finally gave up. Naru smirked but soon she got back to her carefree attitude. After that, another spar took places. Everyone except Naru got two fights because, she disappeared after her fight and nobody could tell where she went.

After the sparing finished, they found Naru in class, sleeping. Iruka got a little annoyed but and woke her up with a slap in the head with the book he was holding. The rest of the day went without incidents. Naru walked out of Academy with a bright smile. But she was thinking about one thing.

"I guess I will still hold back. I probably just got caught in the moment back there. There is nothing to be done. What happened is done. If anybody asks, I will just tell them it was a fluke. I just hope I won't fight with her to at least the end of the Academy. After that I won't care anymore. I wonder what Kurama has prepared for dinner. Maybe I should buy Kurama and Sakuya something? Maybe a strawberry cake? I would eat one too. That's it! I'm buying one!" Naru declared and ran to the nearest cake shop to buy the cake.

When she reached her home she didn't expected to be welcomed by an Oni.

"Yo, Naru-chan~!" Suika greeted her with bright smile. Naru was a little confused and didn't say anything.

"I'm going to keep my promise, well more like favor, but it doesn't matter! The matter is I will train you, got it!?" Suika said with a smile and a finger pointed at Naru. Naru was more confused and could only reply with a small nod. She didn't quite catch what just happened. Naru also didn't know why but she got the feeling that everything would hurt her from now on.

Ok, here is chapter! ITAI! My… my back… dammit, I'm still in no condition… Anyway… I hope you like this chapter… could… could anyone get me a medicine from Eirin… I'm still no condition to walk by myself… ouch...thanks by the way…

Write down the comments and leave "Follow" or "Favorite" if you like the story. See you fellows in new chapter… I think I'm going to lay down for a bit…

Also say thanks to the beta reader. He is doing a great job as well.