Hello there readers! I've got another chapter for you! I hope you will enjoy it as much as you enjoyed the previous one. So without further delay, let's start!

Stage 13

Back to School

『School was built to teach,

but sometimes it's slowing the process of teaching』

Naru household, a week later after return

Naru woke up from her sleep. After they got back from Gensokyo, Naru decided to sleep for at least week. She still hadn't recovered all of her strength but, she felt it was about 80%, which was quite good. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Slowly getting up from her futon, she used her power to get dressed into something more comfortable than pajama. Washing herself, she looked at her face.

She still had some signs of her previous health state, but it was getting better. Three, four day at max and there would be no sign left. Using her power again she dressed into her usual dress and walked to the kitchen. She sat down with a heavy sigh. She could smell something good. She jerked her head slightly to see Sakuya preparing breakfast. It must be something good, because it made Naru's stomach growl.

Sakuya turned, slightly surprised, but she quickly smiled noticing Naru.

"Good morning. How was your sleep?" she asked while getting back to making breakfast.

"Good, but I could sleep longer, but I guess teachers don't want that. Am I right?" Naru responded still in a sleepy voice. She looked at Sakuya who nodded her head without looking at Naru.

"That's right. Three days ago, a guy, named Iruka Umino came asking about you. I told him you were recovering and wouldn't be at school for another week. He wasn't happy and was going to enter the house but, I managed to change his mind," Sakuya said innocently. Naru raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.

"Please, don't tell me you put a knife to his throat?" Naru begged mockingly. Sakuya only showed her tongue and closed one eye. Naru laughed. Sakuya put down breakfast, which was eggs, toast and tea. Naru started digging in and not five minutes had passed before she was finished. She clapped her hands.

"Thank you for the food," she said in a stoic voice, but with a smile on her face and closed eyes. She looked at Sakuya with one eye. Sakuya blushed slightly but smiled back. Naru stood up and looked at the clock. It was 7.30.

"I guess I will start heading to the Academy. I can't keep a teacher waiting, can I?" Naru smiled. Sakuya nodded with a smile and escorted Naru to the door. Naru grabbed her parasol. When Naru opened the door, she turned to Sakuya with a smile.

"I want something special for dinner tonight. Can you make it?" Naru bowed her head to side, still with a smile on her face. Sakuya stared at Naru before she nodded. Naru leaned to Sakuya and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Naru chuckled with a bright smile and ran away. Sakuya was standing surprised at the door while touching her forehead.

Sakuya then smiled softly to herself and went inside the house.

"Naru-san. Before this happened you was like box. A box without a key to open it. A box, locked from everyone. You thought it would help you protect everyone you loved. You stored those feelings deep in that box, and hid them, away from everyone's eyes," Sakuya thought while she started slowly clearing Naru's breakfast.

"You thought it was for the best; to not be concern about those feeling while protecting someone, thinking they would distract you. But Yukari knew better. She knew the key to your goal was to open the box that you had created, unintentionally, by blood, by a curse you had from the very beginning. Words and feelings couldn't break that box. Only force. Words and force. Like Suika did." Sakuya walked down the corridor and opened the door to Naru's room.

She could smell Naru's scent after a long week. Sakuya started slowly cleaning the room and opened the second door leading outside to release the heavy air from the room.

"But nobody thought that crushing that box would lead to what happened. All those emotions, locked away, suddenly released, made Naru vulnerable to them. She couldn't handle them. And our disappearance only make it worst. Even after you found me again, you still couldn't control those emotions. You're like a child, who's just grasping those feeling for the first time." Sakuya looked at the photo of Naru on the shelf. It was the first photo before the departure to Konoha. Sakuya smiled at the memories. She gently moved her hand around the cover of the photo.

"I know you missed me and still miss Kurama. I heard your voice sometimes when you were sleeping, repeating our names. With tears in your eyes. But whatever happened I will be with you. And I know that Kurama, where ever she is, is thinking the same thing." Sakuya hugged the photo fora few second before she placed it back on the shelf.

With Naru, Academy

Naru entered the class, which was quite empty. She looked at the clock and saw she still had 20 minutes. She hadn't been noticed she ran through village to Academy. She looked at those who were inside, and saw they were some random students she didn't recognize.

"Or I've just forgotten their names… Buuuu…. I don't remember..." Naru thought with a pout. She sat on her place and decided to take a nap. She didn't have a lot to do right now. Soon the bell rang and Naru slowly woke up. She saw Iruka-sensei walk into the class. He looked around and took attendance.

"Ok, settle down. I see Yakumo has finally graced us with her presence. And I also see everyone is here as well. Good. Today we have a sparring match. Everyone, follow me to," Iruka ordered. Naru stood up and followed everyone. While she was walking she heard some whispering about her.

"She is back, I see. I wonder what happened."

"I heard, some clan matters? I don't know the details..."

"But looking at her, she seems slightly pale, don't you think..."

"She is weak probably. Something probably happened during her absence..."

"That's no matter. I can feel she is weak. I have a feeling she will be called 'Dead Last' for sure."

Naru didn't pay attention to any insult she heard after that. She didn't care what people thought about her. She thought their opinions didn't matter. Their opinions were like the cover of a book; what was important, was inside the book. Soon they reached the academic spar ground with a few rings. Iruka looked at everyone so that he could start explaining.

"Today we will have another sparing match. Mizuki-sensei has prepared training weapons. Go to him and ask for a training kunai. Naru raised her hand.

"Yes, Naru?"

"Can I use my parasol instead of a kunai?"

"Let me look at it first, ok?" Iruka said. Naru gave him her parasol and he looked at it. After a few seconds he gave it back to her.

"Alright, you can use it. It doesn't have any shards or dangerous ends, so no one will be injured, except a few bruises." Naru smiled and walked away. There were a few mutters but Iruka quickly shut them up and they started sparring. Naru didn't pay them much attention. She only observed Hinata and Sasuke, because only those two caught her attention after her absence.

Hinata literally wiped out the training ground with Sakura. She couldn't even blink when Hinata's open palm collided with Sakura ribs on both sides. After that Hinata quickly kicked Sakura in the leg, making her fall to the ground. Hinata then grabbed Sakura by her hair and quickly put a kunai to her throat. It was so fast, that even Iruka and Mizuki were surprised. Iruka then called Hinata the winner.

The next match was Sasuke and Kiba. Kiba would have had a chance of winning if he wasn't so… impatience. Sasuke used this to make a hole in his defense. Sasuke then quickly ducked and put a kunai to Kiba's throat. It wasn't so fast, like Hinata and Sakura, but it had been quite fast nonetheless. After that it was Naru's turn.

She walked to the arena and saw her opponent was Shino. She didn't have any opinion about him. He was a quiet person, who wasn't showing his real ability, from what Naru could remember. She knew about his clan and their dealings with certain bugs. If she remembered correctly, there was a youkai of bugs in Gensokyo somewhere. Maybe they would like each other.

Both Shino and Naru stood in front of each other, waiting for Iruka to start the match. Before Iruka gave them the signal, Naru spoke.

"You're… damn I don't remember, could you remind me," Naru said with a with small smile. Shino raised his head slightly.

"Aburame Shino," he responded calmly. Naru clapped her hands.

"Ohh, that's right. Thanks. Hey, you like bugs right?" Naru spoke with an honest small. Shino didn't reply, keeping his gaze on Naru.

"Where I came from there is also a girl who likes bugs. I bet you would like each other. Probably." Naru spoke. Near the end of her sentence her eyes were looking somewhere else. Naru then remembered that Shino was human and that girl was youkai. But, maybe it would work. Making friends here wasn't necessary, but maybe it could be nice. Shino dropped his guard.

"Are you...laughing at my family?" Shino asked seriously. Naru's eyes widened and she quickly started waving her hands.

"Wha-, No, NO, No! I'm serious, I just don't remember her name. Mystia was it… No, that's wrong she was a bird… Miggle… no that's wrong as well… Figgle...Ghaaa I don't remember her name!" Naru scratched her head furiously. Shino raised an eyebrow. No one had caught the Mystia part, except Shino.

"Bird? Is she mocking me? No matter, I will make her regret that, when we will are allowed to use jutsu." Shino got in his stance. Naru saw Shino being ready and sighed. She had made him mad. Shino turned to Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei, for this one time, can both me and Naru-san here use jutsu?" he asked. Shino looked serious. Iruka raised his eyebrows before he looked at Naru who shrugged. Seeing that Naru didn't card he nodded.

"But remember, no permanent injuries are allowed," he added. Shino nodded, and so did Naru. In her mind, Naru cried anime tears.

"I can't use my abilities, not at least until I finish this academy. I guess I must use brute force. Thankfully, youkai are naturally stronger, physically, than humans," Naru thought. Shino got into a stance with a kunai in hand. Naru placed her open parasol on her shoulder and smiled, ready for combat. Iruka looked at both of them and gave them the signal to begin.

Shino didn't waste time and charged and Naru with kunai ready to slash. Naru quickly closed her parasol and stopped Shino's slash. He then dropped on the ground and tried to kick Naru in the legs, to break her balance, but she raised her leg and kicked back at Shino, who dodged it and jumped away. Naru smiled and started slowly walking to Shino who started making hand seals.

"Spindle Formation," he said, when Naru was halfway from Shino. Then his bugs started coming out from his body and gathering in a large ball on the ground. Naru stopped and her eyes slightly widened, seeing so many bugs coming from Shino.

"This will be a problem..." Naru cringed slightly. She quickly opened her parasol to block the incoming bug attack. The bugs collided with Naru's parasol and started spreading. Naru quickly jumped away and looked at her parasol. She then looked at Shino.

"I give you credit. Your bugs are problematic," Naru admitted. Of course she could easily clean herself from them with her ability but she don't want to use it right now. She was holding herself from using it. Naru decided she needed to end this quickly, before she would be covered in bugs. That was slightly gross in her opinion. She then charged at Shino who noticed it and ordered his bugs to attack Naru. She dodged them and prepared to hit Shino in the head with her parasol. He quickly put a kunai up to block the incoming attack. But Naru used the handle of her parasol to hit Shino in the jaw.

Shino, being distracted by the hit, couldn't deflect another, this time on his chin from Naru's slash. She then quickly hit him again and kicked him in the stomach, sending him out of the ring. Naru looked at Shino and sighed deeply. The bugs got off of her and started gathering on Shino's body. He on the other hand slowly stood up, holding his stomach with thoughts in his head.

"That was quick. I couldn't do anything. Also this hit in the stomach, it was far stronger than anyone should be able to do at our age. Also what did she mean by a girl who likes bugs. But something is not right, my kikaichū couldn't gather her chakra. Who are, Naru Yakumo?" Shino now standing straight, still holding his stomach. He walked to the rest of the class. Iruka declared Naru the winner.

After that, a few more matches were declared and then the school ended, Iruka saying they needed to rest. Naru sighed and walked out of the academy when a voice called her.

"Yakumo-san." Naru turned and saw Shino standing with his hands in his pocket. Naru blinked, wondering what he wanted. Shino kept standing still, looking at Naru. He raised his head slightly.

"Can I ask you something?" he said. Naru titled her head to the side, wondering. He walked closer to her.

"If it's possible, I would like to speak to you in private," he said. Naru gave him a glance without turning her head. After a second she huffed with a smile.

"Follow me, then," she said. She started walking to her house. Shino kept looking at her for second. Soon he started following her, with thoughts in his head.

"Who are you, or maybe what are you? Enemy? Friend? Or something else completely? I need to know the answer," Shino thought.

Soon they had reached Naru's house. Shino looked around and stopped. He felt something. His swarm felt it as well. Something was covering the house, but he couldn't say what it was. Naru looked at him.

"Come in, you wanted to talk, right?" Naru said. That brought Shino from thoughts and he walked in. He felt like he had passed through something. It was solid, but felt like air. He felt something like lighting touch his body, but it was almost insensible. He entered the house and saw it looked normal. He had expected something different, but he knew deception was the weapon of every ninja. Naru pulled off her shoes.

"Sakuya~! I brought friend~!" Naru called with a chirping voice, which surprised Shino. Naru was hard to read, she was unpredictable, like a child who still didn't know how to act properly. Sakuya appeared from behind the corner. Shino saw her and was surprised to see the maid, especially someone like Sakuya who was emanating an aura of perfection and elegance. Shino bowed slightly and introduced himself.

"Shino Aburame, excuse me for troubling you," he said politely. Sakuya bowed back.

"Sakuya Izayoi, Head Maid of the Yakumo household," Sakuya said but Naru quickly ran to her and shook her head.

"Wrong! You're Sakuya Izayoi, my dear friend! Got It!?" Naru puffed her cheeks. Sakuya blinked before chuckling softly and nodded her head. Shino didn't know what to think about these two; he couldn't figure them out. Like they were lacking something. Common sense perhaps.

Sakuya then lead them to the kitchen.

"I've got dinner ready. Do you want to eat, Aburame-san?" she said. Shino shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm not hungry. And I will have dinner at my house soon enough." Sakuya nodded and started preparing tea.

"But tea you won't refuse." It was more of a statement than a question. Shino didn't respond. Sakuya also brought Naru food. It was quite a big portion of different meats, potatoes, salads and spicy sauce. Shino saw how Naru's eyes sparkled before she started digging into the food. And Oh my God, Shino was impressed at how quickly Naru ate the dish.

He remembered when one time he went with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba to eat at a restaurant. He had been impressed by the amount of food Choji could eat but, right now, Naru had changed his opinion. She could probably eat more than Choji himself. He wondered where she had space in her stomach for such a big amount of food.

Naru patted her stomach with satisfaction and smiled to Sakuya.

"Thanks for the food, Sakuya~!" Sakuya just smiled and brought tea for everyone. She then sat down and everyone started drinking it. Shino was surprised at how well prepared tea it was. It's taste was almost perfect, if not perfect. Shino then turned to Naru.

"I wanted to ask about the girl you spoke about earlier, before our match. I… want to know more details," he said.

"And maybe gather more information about you," Shino thought. Naru looked at Shino with one eye before responding with a smile.

"I guess it's not possible right now. I just… don't remember anything about her, hehehe..." Naru said sheepishly. Shino sweatdropped.

"What are you talking about, both of you?" Sakuya asked. Naru turned to Sakuya with surprise.

"Ahhh! That's right, you don't know. Me and Shino fought before, at the academy for practice. Then I remembered his name and it reminded me of his clan specialty, controlling bugs and fighting with their help. That reminded me of one girl back in the Chronicle. She could also control bugs. And I thought that maybe those two would like each other~." Naru clapped her hands with a smile.

Sakuya looked at Naru with slight surprise, before she took a sip of her tea.

"I see, but it could be a problem. You know she isn't human exactly," Sakuya said seriously. Naru then cracked a nervous smile and flinched in her chair uncomfortably. Shino raised an eyebrow at what Sakuya had said.

"What do you mean exactly? What do you mean she isn't human?" Both Sakuya and Naru flinched visibly. Sakuya was frozen in her position while Naru was shaking and sweating. Hard.

"W-We-well… You see… hehe… how to… say that… hehe" Naru couldn't say anything. Sakuya was mentally slapping herself for letting this information slip. Shino was getting more and more suspicious. Naruto finally bowed her head with a heavy sigh and snapped her fingers. Then Shino eyes opened wide.

Around him, gaps opened from thin air, throwing ropes at him which easily caught him and made him unable to do anything. He tried to break them with just force, but quickly more ropes came and wrapped around him. He tried to use his bugs, but he they didn't respond out of fear. He looked at Naru. Her hair was flying, like tails; the temperature in the room dropped. Shino could only gulp, but even this was hard for him.

Naru rose and her eyes were glowing an orange color. Her eyes were like vertical slits. Shino eyes widened. Naru moved closer to him.

"And I tried to stay low, how foolish of me. Ahhhh!" Naru said and stomped her foot with irritation. Shino only grunted. Naru looked at him.

"I was trying to stay low, but maybe nothing is wasted. If I could just make you disappear. Make that means no one would remember you was here. Ever," Naru said with a smile, sorrow in her voice. Shino looked at her with an angry scowl. Naru's smile grew widener when she snapped her fingers.

And…

The ropes dropped Shino onto the ground. Everything was back to normal. Shino was kneeling on the ground, trying to calm his breathing. Naru kneeled before him with a gentle smile.

"Or, you can just not mention it to anyone, and tomorrow I will try to bring that girl so you can meet her," Naru proposed. Shino looked at her with an angry expression.

"Do you really think I would sit quietly after what you did to me second ago?" Shino spat. Naru nodded with a smile.

"That's easy, tomorrow I will bring you that girl. I will explain everything and maybe we will be friends. But if you say anything about what happened here, then." She snapped her fingers. Shino then felt cold steel on his neck. He turned slightly and saw Sakuya with a cold expression, knife in her hand which was touching his neck.

"I kill you and throw your corpse to my friends to eat." She smiled. Shino paled and looked at Naru like she was crazy. Naru nodded.

"I guess you were suspicious after our fight. Your bugs couldn't suck my chakra, could they?" Naru said with a mischievous grin. Shino didn't do anything, but Naru could tell he knew what Naru was talking about.

"I'm more than meet the eyes. I recommend you think about it, Shino-chan. After all, this is your only option right now, choose wrong and bye bye, family and friends," Naru said. Shino gulped and there was a minute of silence.

"Fine, I will stay quiet," he said with resignation. Naru mood brighten even more and she clapped.

"I knew you would say that. Let him go Sakuya," Naru said. Sakuya removed her knife from Shino's neck. He sighed deeply. Naru scratched Shino's hair with a smile.

"Don't worry, Shino-chan. You won't regret this. Being my friend will bring you a lot of good, trust me," Naru said with a grin. Shino looked at Naru but didn't say anything. After that, Shino left Naru's house.

"Do you think letting him go is a good idea?" Sakuya asked, when the two were alone. Naru looked at the uncertain Sakuya.

"Don't worry. I manipulated the boundary between possibility and impossibility slightly. Even if he wants to, he won't be able to mention what happened here," Naru assured. Sakuya raised her eyebrows.

"You can manipulate boundaries at such a high level already?" she said. Naru snorted and waved her hand.

"No, no. Like Mother, I can manipulate any boundary. But the more complicated it is, the harder. Mother taught me to manipulate every boundary, including possibility and impossibility and life and death. I'm still not that good. Blocking someone saying things is easy to do, but I still can't prohibit someone from using chakra or other difficult things. I still can't forbid someone to cross a border between life and death. That's one of the most ultimate boundaries. Those years which I spend training were too short. Mother needed more, much more, time to train and master her power. Me, on the other hand, not so much," Naru explained. Sakuya then nodded with understanding.

Manipulation of boundaries was much more complicate than anyone could think. They had to recognize the difference between one border and another, be careful not to make paradoxes, specify what needed to be manipulated… the difficulty of changing it. There was a lot of things which needed to be considered before trying to manipulate. Other powers don't require such considerations.

Naru sighed happily.

"I wonder, who did you prepare for today's meal?" she said to Sakuya. Sakuya looked thoughtfully before answering.

"I don't remember very well. Some middle aged man. It's hard to remember the name of the food you are eating, right?" Sakuya smiled. Naru laughed.

"I guess. You don't ask the rabbit, 'what's your name', right?" Naru responded. Sakuya nodded. Both of them then walked to the kitchen and started drinking their tea again.

With Shino

Shino entered the house and leaned on the door with a heavy thud, before he sat on the ground with a sigh. He wondered what happen back there. One moment everything was alright, then Naru went… crazy.

"What did she mean, that the girl she mentioned wasn't human? And that power. Was that Kekkei Genkai? Also how that maid appeared next to me in an instant. It was just in the blink of an eye. And she was next to me with a knife on my throat." Shino instinctively touched his neck, where Sakuya had held her knife.

"Why do I feel I've got myself into something I shouldn't have? Also my bugs, why were they scared and why couldn't they suck Naru's chakra? I need to know, but how?" Shino thought. He remembered that tomorrow Naru would supposedly bring a girl who liked bugs, but was she telling the truth? Shino shook his head, he needed to calm down.

He stood up from the ground and decided to go to the family library; maybe there he would find something useful. Hopefully at least one question would be answered. Who Naru was exactly. While he was walking he was stopped by his father's voice.

"Shino." He turned to see his father in the door frame. He didn't respond immediately.

"Good afternoon, Father." His father walked closer to him.

"Something's wrong, you seem… distracted," his Father, Shibi said in a stoic voice. Shino wanted to tell him what had happened, but he couldn't, like something was stopping him from doing so.

"Nothing, just...thinking. There is no problem," Shino finally responded.

"There is a problem," Shino thought but couldn't say anything. Shibi kept looking at his son before responding.

"I see. If you need help, just ask." And he walked away. Shino kept standing in place with one thought in mind.

"I need help, but I can't ask or tell you about it." And Shino started walking again to his family library, hoping to find some answers.

Ok, here is another chapter of Phantasmagoria.

I didn't really plan this encounter with Shino and Naru after school. It was Shino's fault all along. I planned that Shino and Naru would have this meeting later. I swear, but Shino ruined everything.

Also about Sakuya's mistake in the kitchen about the girl not being human. Everyone can make a mistake, even Sakuya. Because how else can you explain how she opened window to let fresh air in, IN FUCKING SPACE! It's CANNON! I SWEAR! She literally opened a window in space to let in fresh air! I think this was in "Inaba from Moon and Inaba from Earth" where the SDM crew built a rocket to reach Moon.

Don't ask me. I don't even ask how the rocket they built was NEAR PERFECT, ask Eirin stated, when for me and for Reisen it was looking like… something which would fall apart after few seconds from flying! But this is Touhou and Gensokyo. There is no common sense here and never will be.

Also yes, the girl Naru was speaking about is Wriggle. I didn't finish the Naruto, manga or anime, but I know that Shino is one of the few if not the only one who didn't have girlfriend after war. It's a little sad, really. So I decided to give him Wriggle as a girlfriend. I think they will like each other. Hopefully.

Anyway that's all for this chapter, see you later.