Reality was disturbed when two figures suddenly appear inside a living room. One is a male while the other one is a woman, and it seems that the latter is injured. Naruto, despite being shorter, is able to support the injured Alice to sit on the couch. The bleeding on the puppeteer's stomach is, in fact, getting worse.

"Do you have anything for me to treat you with?" despite the situation, Naruto managed to keep a calm demeanor. Panicking will be no use… sadly, he learned that the hard way while he was still a trainee at ROOT. Examining the woman's wound closer, the cut wound was much deeper than what he thought. A chakra enhanced sword or blade could easily pierce through the muscles, burning multiple tissues and causing internal bleeding at the same time. He can't say that he's familiar with this kind of injury, but there are times where he got a few cuts and stabs as well.

In pain, Alice managed to shake her head. Naruto cursed underneath his breath. "Dammit…" there's only one way. Reaching through his pouch inventory, he pulled out a rolled bundle of what seems to be wire. But unlike the usual ones, this one is thin and almost as fine as hair, even more maybe. "I'm going to stitch it up, this will hurt… a lot."

"Do… it…!" the reply was through pained breathing and clenched teeth. Alice couldn't stand the pain, and regeneration is taking longer than she imagined. Perhaps it's because of this chakra thing… maybe it's disturbing the regeneration somehow. She closed her eyes, bracing for the pain. Then, hell literally happened. She howled in pain, feeling a thick and cold, piercing sensation on the edge of her wound. And the sliding friction of the wires brings it into a whole new level of pain.

"Grr….aggh!" doing this without anesthesia is probably one of the hellish and worst thing that anyone could've done to her. But Naruto is doing this to save her so the only thing that she could do now is to bear with the pain and let him do what he's doing. The pain she feels is intense, there's no denying that. Acting tough will only makes it even more painful, screaming helps yet only a little. Panting heavily, she gasped when she felt the needle getting deeper, sinking into her flesh even more. She couldn't take the suddenness of the pain, hence her bloody scream.

"Aaaah!"

"Sorry… not really good at doing things like this…!" Naruto apologized, while busy with his work. This is harder than he thought, mostly because of the fact that the cut is rather large and wide. He then speeds up the process; the girl's about to faint already. "Almost… there…!" he finally made it to the final touch. Then he sealed the wire, preventing more blood loss from the wound. "There!"

Alice gasped one final time, her head hung backwards after the intense moment of pain she just went through. Constant breathing grew more stabilized, aching decreasing probably due to her regeneration finally kicking in. She felt a small hand on her shoulder, opening tired eyes, she saw Naruto. "You alright?" he asked.

"I'm… fine… just," she winced when she tried to move her seating position. "peachy." The pain is still there, but it will subside eventually. As for how long… she doesn't know.

Naruto removed the jacket he's wearing, showing all kinds of cuts and gashes all over his body. Alice saw red energy leaking out from his body, surrounding him in a cloak of red aura. To her fascination, all the cuts and gashes that he has on him are slowly healing, stitching themselves and leaving no single marks behind. Then she saw the pained expression on the boy's face; looks like it'll cost him some way or the other. After finally finishing with his instant regeneration, Naruto put his jacket on, even though it's barely intact due to past encounters with ROOT ANBU.

"Hm. I'll still need to do something. You stay here and rest, kill whoever's wearing a mask or a dead look in their eyes." He pulled out a scroll from his pouch, to which he opened and analyze. "Tch…!" something's wrong, was the line that went through Alice's mind. She could tell from the miffed expression the other blonde is making. "Change of plans, I'll go now." He then disappeared, leaving her alone and a leftover smokescreen that will soon dissipate.

Alone in silence, Alice sighed in relief. Today was eventful even if it's still morning. Unlike Naruto, she won't heal instantly. It'll take a few hours for her wound to completely heal. Not doing any activity will speed up the process, but it's a good thing that she is able to remedy that. Shanghai appeared before her master, awaiting instructions. Looking at the doll, Alice gives her instruction. The doll went away and disappeared behind the hallway. A moment later, she returned carrying a sizeable rectangular item on her doll hands.

Alice reached out for the item that was brought to her as per instruction by her doll. She set it up on the table. The item is a book, a hard covered book with ribbons acting as a seal to prevent prying. To people who lacks knowledge of this particular book, which is to say a lot of them, this book might only seem to be a simple book decorated with ribbons. But in actuality, it is not. It's not a mere book; appearance be damned. This book is her grimoire, it contains all spells that she knows, dangerous or more.

Without hesitation in her mind, Alice opened the book by discarding the ribbons. She flipped through pages, finding a particular page that she's looking for. The flipping of pages stop, her eyes are immediately glued to the words written on the thick book. She closed her eyes before closing the book.

"Aura Sanitas."

Upon the end of her spell, a greenish blue glow surrounds her. Her tensed muscles gradually relax, feeling them no longer aching just like they were before. The nasty gash that she has on her abdomen started to heal slowly; the cut was indeed coated in chakra. Thankfully for her, none of her organs are wounded; healing shouldn't take long. And, true as she thought, it did not take long. Her body went into a state of numbness, an aftereffect that will happen after using the spell.

"Haaah…" Alice released a breath that she had been holding for too long. The pain has subsided, yet the same can't be said for her fatigue. She isn't used to fight as she did before; mainly because she would be firing danmakus instead of her dolls. And since danmakus aren't really effective on those ninjas; she needs to rely on her dolls or magic. She made an effort to lift herself from the sofa; wincing as she did so.

The stitch that Naruto did for her was crude; but it serves its purpose nonetheless. Though she has to wonder… where on earth did he get some fine material? Touching the metal wire that her ninja partner had used for stitching, she found the material to be fine, even finer than hair. It's made of metal, yet it is thinner and smoother than hair. And to be able to completely close a gash as deep as this, it is strong too. Alice made way for her door, planning to catch up to the boy. But she remembered what he said.

He suddenly barged out of the house after patching her up, she wonders what's wrong. Maybe that ambush wasn't the last? In any case, she needs to stay here and be on watch for intruders. The ROOT forces are nearby; and the last thing she wanted is to have them lingering nearby. So she summoned a good amount of puppets at her command, giving them instructions.

"Scout the perimeter around the house; and eliminate any identified hostiles." Alice said through bits of pain.

The dolls, as if having a mind of their own, nodded before flying out of the house through an opened window. Alice walked towards her front door, opening it. Sending out dolls to guard the house won't be a guarantee that no enemies will be nearby; it might be reassuring but not as much. She needs to set up an illusion, a simple magic barrier illusion that wards off particular enemies that are nearby. Of course, Naruto won't be affected by it since he could just reappear inside her house just like how he brought her here.

Standing on the porch of her house, Alice opened a page from her grimoire; flipping the pages agilely. She stopped on a particular page, and began reading to analyze the spell. She closed her eyes, remembering the spell and what has to be done in order to cast it. Illusions spells are complicated; but she's thankful to herself that she is rather professional in this field.

She began to concentrate, focusing her magic at a single source that is her mind. Behind her, on the air, appears what seems to be magic circles. They are abstract and each of them varies from each other; they also glow a rather bright purple color. Now the hard thing about casting illusion spells; is whether or not she could construct the design in time. She's looking for a shape; a dimensional figure that will make an excellent boundary.

She settled in with a hexagon, seeing that it is the most suitable figure that she could think of. A square isn't so, much less a circle. The more points there is in the shape, the stronger the illusion barrier is; yet she also has to spend a lot of magic on it. Then again, even if she could go for a nonagon shaped barrier, using only a hexagonal shaped barrier is enough since these ninjas aren't knowledgeable in magic. That is based on what she heard from their informant, Sai.

"Mistica: Somnium Obice!" (Lit: Sleep barrier *sorry, can't find a better translation than this)

The magic circles behind her glows brighter than they did before; eventually coming to a point where the glow spreads and pulses around house, reaching the distance further away. The barrier has been set, now she has one less thing to worry about. Closing her grimoire, she allows herself a mental pat on the back. Now, it should be safer to take a stroll around the house. Alice went back inside her house and closed the door afterwards. Today is a tiring day… and it's not even evening yet. Maybe close, but not yet.

Overall, she doesn't think that she'll survive any longer if this were to be their daily routine…

Slumping down her couch, she winced at the stupid action she made. So… 'their daily routine'…? The doll maker's face went deep red, to which she began to deny by shaking her head sideways. Unable to dismiss it, she buries her face into the sofa's arm rest. Her heart's beating strangely faster… what the heck is wrong with her?

"What is wrong with me…?" she muttered, asking herself while her voice is muffled from the couch's arm rest. The vision of a foxy smile, boisterous and oblivious actions came to her mind in the form of a certain orange wearing ninja. Her face increased in terms of redness; getting redder as much as it could get. Why is she embarrassed when she thinks of that person? Shaking her head, Alice settled for a biased reason. "Maybe I'm just tired… and he was there to help me. Yeah, maybe that is it."

Settling in with her own reasoning, Alice decided that she could very well take a hot and long relaxing bath while waiting for Naruto to return.

.

.

.

Kyuun~

Her face went redder than before at her own thoughts. It's like she's trying to look all fresh and clean just for him. What is wrong with her?

Alice is swallowed by a sea of confusion; with an alien feeling deep in her chest.

A kunai went swishing into the air, piercing and aiming towards its target. "GACK!" Said kunai hit a person right at the back of his neck, right into his bones and no doubt dropping the man down from the tree branch he's standing on earlier; killing him. A figure dropped next to the fallen body of a masked ROOT operative; the figure is panting hard from exhaustion. The figure is Naruto himself; tired and exhausted from hunting down what's left of the ROOT ANBUs nearby.

"Hah…huff…huff… that's the last of 'em." He dropped to the ground, landing on his derriere. The immense amount of exhaustion is by far the most he'd experienced ever since entering Gensokyo. He needs to get used to it soon, or else it will affect how he performs on his skirmishes with Danzo's boys. "Can't believe I forgot to read the mission scroll properly… forgot that they have a nearby checkpoint settled." He chuckled dryly to himself.

The scroll that contains the information that Sai gave him was detailed. It was his fault for not paying attention to it. Instead of just having a patrol convoy sent to set up perimeter along the forest of magic, the mission details also include a vital piece of information stating that ROOT had sent scouts that would immediately set up a checkpoint for the convoy. He forgot that littlest bit of important detail; now he'd just finished clearing out the boy scouts that were here before until he arrived.

The forest's floor is a complete mess of blood and dirt. He'd been literally splitting bones and flesh off from one another for about an hour nonstop. That is the least of his worries; what he's worried is about ROOT's movements. While Sai is there to keep him updated, Sai can't always give a perfect report due to the seal on his tongue—on the both of them actually. That is why Sai resorts to writing to be able to provide him with details; however this method of communication is not as detailed as speaking directly and will take a long time to receive.

"Whew… now that this is over… I think I deserve me self a bowl of ramen or two… or ten." He picked himself up from the ground, dusting off whatever muck and gore he has on him. Correction, he has muck and gore all over him. "Damn. Need to find a place to clean up…" now a river or a lake would be good. But the problem is that he needs to find them first before he could even wash his feet. Deciding that he's not going to waste time; he postpone his ramen trip for a later date. Maybe Alice has a bath or something at her home.

That being said, he needs to return back to base; A.K.A: Alice's house. Forming a ram seal, he disappeared from that very place he was on. Reality wrapped itself for the second time that day; Naruto appeared in front of Alice's house, right at the door to be exact. He could jus appear inside but he doesn't want to dirty the woman's carpet with all the blood and all… he took off his sandals and torn up jacket, leaving only a pair of blood soaked pants along with blood soaked fishnet clothes.

Without the slightest bit of care, the blonde haired ninja swings open the door to the house as if he owned the place. He enters the property, making himself known. "I'm back~! Yo Alice? Doll face? You here?" eyes narrowing, he crept up towards the hallway. Where is that woman? He told her to stay here and rest; well he didn't but he obviously meant it that way! Now he returned to find this place barren of any living creature.

Walking further deeper into the hallway, he entered a part of the house that he'd never been in before. In the midst of walking, he heard the faint noise of humming. He turned his head towards the direction where he heard the noise to find that it came from the other side of a door. Curious, he reached for the door's knob and swings the door open.

"Alice?"

Time stopped. Eh... no, she was not there.

Some might call him a lucky fool and some might call him-

"PERVERT!"

Yup, that's the word.

"Wait I can expla—bugeeeh!" apparently, the bucket is quicker than his mouth. Having a hard, wooden bucket thrown to your chin isn't exactly worrying. But to be labeled as a pervert while getting hit by a bucket is something to worry about; think about all the misunderstandings… and he hates, really, really hates misunderstandings. Nursing his chin, the ninja desperately tries to cover up for himself; in a different sense than Alice. "Wait! This is a misunderstanding, I didn't know that you're—whoa!" was that a soap? "Please woman, calm down!"

"I would if you just get out for a moment!" screamed the woman who is desperately trying to cover herself using whatever materials she have with her; clothes, towels etc.

Without saying anything, Naruto scurried outside the bathroom while rubbing his sore chin. Well… he has himself to blame for not being careful; and quick too. He could've avoided that bucket but he was caught up by something else… trailing off, the ninja grew red on the face. "A-Ahem…" he coughed into his fist to dismiss the glowing redness on his face. No use in thinking about it anymore, he thought.

After a while, Alice came out from the bath, all steaming and clean; though that does not make the redness from her face gone completely. Stepping out from the bathroom door with her new set of clothes along with her towel that she's folded; Alice glanced nervously around the hallway. She took the first step towards the hallway; making the kitchen as her destination. She walked, only to regret doing so.

"Ah."

"Ah…"

Two blondes came face to face. Each of them looking intently at the other; then simultaneously, both looked away with a similar shade of red on their face. Alice shyly walked over to the sofa, passing her fellow blonde without saying anything. Alice walks over briskly to the sofa; the one that is opposite of Naruto's. The blonde ninja himself looked away, unable to deal with the redness on his face.

An uncomfortably thick atmosphere of awkwardness piles up in the room, making them both feel pressured. Deciding, Alice speaks. "So… what did you find?" she asked, in hopes of lifting this uncomfortable feeling off. They both have to speak sooner or later anyways.

"Ahem." The orange wearing ninja coughed to his fist. If he's glad that Alice has managed to keep things from getting awkward, then he's not showing it. "I misread the intel that was given to us." He started dryly. "Intel stated that there will be additional backups to support the guys that we massacred earlier today. I took out the reinforcements sent their way; it's a good thing that they only sent fewer groups…"

"But they will soon notice the decrease in their numbers, right?" Alice questions.

"Hum… not really…" Naruto drawled.

Raising an eyebrow, this conversation has interest her. "How so?"

"Sai is able to create physical copies of those people that we killed. I sent the number of body count via bird so that he could 'compensate' the numbers of loss for ROOT. It's like making fake copies of those people that we killed." Naruto revealed uncaringly.

"But… won't it be too insecure?" Alice asked. She has this feeling inside of her that says that a plan like this could go bad. "Won't they find out eventually?"

Naruto hummed. "Yes and no." without even looking, he could already tell that Alice wants further elaboration. "Yes, they will eventually find out and no; they won't find out about it as quick as you might have thought they would. ROOT's first and utmost policy is to make your mask your identity." Naruto stated. "Once you put the mask on, you're no longer who you were before. You are your mask. In other words; almost all of the ROOT operatives that we murdered had had their masks on ever since they first got into ROOT. So you won't have to worry about them getting found out. And besides, Sai's a really great artist. Creating replicas are his specialty."

"I see…" Alice finally understood. So, she do not have to worry about anything. But still… the thought of someone being able to create copies of a large number of people... it's something if not interesting. Will Sai do it in a manner that Naruto does, by using clones? Well, she'll know about it eventually. After thinking, she sent her fellow blonde a glare. "And what are you doing sitting there? You've got blood all over you, quick! Take a bath and be done with it!"

Naruto glared bitterly at the woman. Regardless, she stood up and walked towards the bath. "Sheesh… women…" he muttered while walking. He walked to the bath, entering it and proceeds to fill the tub with water. Thankfully, Alice has a heater; or she's using magic to heat it up. Not long, the tub is filled with warm water ready for him to dip himself in. He steps inside the tub, after undressing himself of course. He starts with his legs, then slowly making his way up to his chest.

All the blood and impurities are washed away by the water and he realized that if he don't change the water soon, he'll be bathing in blood. He stood and steps out from the bath; and the proceeds to empty the tub and refilling it with warm water. Now that he's not nearly as blood soaked as before, he can bathe in peace.

"So Sakuya, what do you have to say about our… Mr. Uzumaki?"

"He is unique, mistress."

"How so?"

"Unique, as in strong."

Her lips lost its playful smirk that it had before, replaced by a thin flat line. "…How intriguing. If my maid managed to be left with such an impression by a stranger… this Uzumaki is getting even more interesting by the second. That is it Sakuya. I want you to invite him here right now. I don't care if he objects, just bring him here."

"Very well, mistress."

Time shifted, before resuming.

Remilia Scarlet gazed upon the red ceiling of her mansion. The marvelous arch structure of the mansion is something that she sees every day. Of course, she considered on changing them; since time isn't exactly a problem when she has someone like Sakuya at her disposal. Aside from Sakuya… she was hoping to have another person at her disposal… slowly, that thin flat line which is her lips widened to form a sly and diabolical smirk.

Who knows what's going on inside Remilia Scarlet's mind… God knows that it's not pleasant to know. The eternal young moon stood from her throne, hands raised towards the air in a giving manner. Oh she is ready to give… she's ready to give nothing in gain of something. Her pair of scarlet eyes grew darker, and so does her smirk.

Uzumaki Naruto… you will be mine!

Inside Alice's house…

"Do you care for some hot cocoa?"

Lifting his head to see the direction at which the voice came from, Naruto came face to face with Alice who is holding a steaming mug of chocolate. Cocoa? He'd never heard of that before, but the smell that the cups radiated are similar to chocolate… perhaps it is chocolate, only interpreted in a different term? Who knows? But, he got no reason to reject her generous offer. Moreover, he'd just gone out of the bath. And having something warm would be nice…

"Sure." He accepted with a small nod. He placed the book that he was reading earlier on the coffee table, letting it be for him to read later on. He stretched his hand forward, grabbing the mug that Alice was offering. The cup is warm, not exactly hot so he didn't have any problem with holding it. Peeking at the content, he knew that it's chocolate. Slowly, he took a small and careful sip; worried that he might burn his tongue. "Hm… this is nice."

"Thank you." Alice replied at the honest comment coming from her fellow blonde. She took a seat on the opposite sofa, taking a sip from her mug. She took notice of the book that was placed on the table's surface, and she couldn't keep her curiosity at hold from asking. "Is that your book?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Naruto asked; his mouth only inches away from his mug.

"What is it about?"

Placing the mug down, Naruto traded it for the book. "This book is a book about chakra control…eh… you know, the type of energy that I have in me?" he saw Alice making a face of realization. "I'm reading it because, well, I'm bored. There's no really use of me on reading this anyway, my control of chakra is already, meh." He shrugged.

Alice sweat dropped at his choice of word. However, she is still curious. After all, it's not every day that she encountered anything that isn't magic, Youki or Chi. "May I read it? Of course, if only you'll let me."

"Sure, here." He handed her the book, before resuming his drinking. He might just get addicted to this stuff… he eyed the woman skeptically. He knew that Alice is somewhat of an intellectual person, he didn't need to look twice at the book that she constantly had with her.

Alice opened the book, and needless to say, she was surprised when she's greeted with a familiar language. Japanese. Then Alice remembered one thing; Naruto came from the outside world… could he be… no, impossible. But the outside world does not possess humans with the capability that Naruto has. It's strange, now that she thought about it. Just where did Naruto come from exactly?

"Ah, Alice?"

Hearing her name being called, she was snapped out from her thinking. "Hm, what is it?"

Naruto pointed his finger towards the front door. "There's someone on the door." He said. After a moment of pause, the sound of knocking could be heard loud and clear.

Alice frowned. Who could it be? She wasn't expecting someone… that's weird. Usually, it's only Marisa who would visit her. But there's something wrong with this picture… Marisa never used the door. So whoever it is that's on the other side of the door caused Alice to get uneasy. Naruto, being the sharp eyed person he is, noticed that Alice visible tensed. The blonde ninja prepared a kunai in hand, getting ready for the worse.

Alice stood from her seat, walking towards the door to welcome her sudden guest. Upon reaching the door, she twisted the doorknob open.

…and was surprised to see who's on the other side of the door.

"Alice-san." A soft, smooth yet stoic voice muttered lowly; almost like an audible whisper. In greeting, the visage of a young woman who stood taller than the blonde puppeteer nodded. The woman who stood in front of the door is none other than Izayoi Sakuya herself in all of her elegant glory. Her hair kept in its signature short twin braid style, and unlike usually, she's wearing a black and white uniform instead of her usual white and blue. "Good morning, Alice-san. Sorry for the sudden visit."

"Ah, Sakuya-san." Alice said in mild surprise. It's not often to see the maid visiting her, after all. "Good morning to you too, what are you doing here?" as the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she's usually not well provided when it comes to free times… so it's strange seeing her knocking on her door.

The silver haired maid gave her a small smile, before resuming her stoic appearance. "I'm here for a request actually. I require you and your… guest's presence back at the mansion."

As soon as the word 'guest' left the maid's mouth, Alice's eyes went wide. "How did you—" the puppeteer was about to speak further, but she found herself silenced by Sakuya's hand.

"I could say nothing other than it was the mistress's intention for this to happen. Of course, I am making precautions by allowing you to come. The mistress has told me to bring in one person by the name of Uzumaki Naruto directly to her, but she did not say about bringing you, his host, along." Was the reason that came out from Sakuya's mouth.

"S-Still…!" Alice stuttered. "I don't think that he will agree, even if not knowing what kind of person Remilia is. He's not the cooperative type you see…" That's not the problem exactly, the problem is whether or not she'll let this happen. For Remilia to want Naruto to come to meet her at her mansion… if that didn't spell like trouble then she didn't know what else.

"Then, I'm afraid there's nothing I could do." Sakuya sighed out. Her hands clenched, and fists balled, Sakuya took one of her knives out with her. "The mistress wasn't asking. It's either this or you and your guest complies with my reasoning." The head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion said firmly.

"Not so fast Silvy."

Both Sakuya and Alice were caught off guard by a third voice. Sakuya was the first one to react at the voice, but she soon found her limbs stranded and restricted by ice cold metallic chains curled around her legs and arms to prevent her from doing anything. The maid, despite not panicking, was greatly surprised to know that she had been bind all along. How? She did not even sensed his presence!

"That's enough struggling there." Naruto glared bitterly at the silver haired maid. From his arm are his chains stretched to keep Sakuya in place, his binding tight and flawless. He added more chakra to his chains, making them grow redder and redder by each second. He could feel his captive growing weaker underneath his chains. He saw Sakuya struggling even more; trying to break free. But he won't allow it. The more she struggled, the tighter the binding gets and the more energy he'll absorb. The blonde whiskered teen walked over to the two females from the front yard, a place which lacks his presence just a few minutes ago.

"N-Naruto…?! H-How did you…?" Alice stuttered in surprise. She didn't even sense his presence! It's almost terrifying; it's as if he wasn't even there in the first place. The blonde puppeteer was more aware that her guest got her other guest in a tight spot… literally. "Anyway, let her go Naruto!"

Naruto, who looked as if he'd just watched someone pissed down his throat, shouted. "Haaah?! What'd you said? Let her go? Like hell!" he roared fiercely. "I noticed something—someone—following ever since I was at the forest picking up Danzo's boy toys, and lookie here!" he raised his hand comically—sarcastically. "I found the sneaky bitch! She's been following me!" he gestured aggressively at the captured maid. "She saw what our plans were Alice, and you expect me to let her go?!"

Alice was taken aback at her fellow blonde's words. She turned to the captured maid in shock. "I-Is that true, Sakuya-san…?" her shock grew further when the maid isn't even answering her. Alice panicked. Things aren't supposed to go this way, it shouldn't! How is she going to fix this? Getting involved with Naruto is bad as it is, and now she's going to get Remilia involved too? She didn't know who'll be the death of her anymore…

Seeing the puppeteer's confused and conflicted state, Naruto rolled his eyes. He walked over closer to Sakuya, turning her towards his direction; leaning her so that he could match her eye to eye. He grabbed her roughly on the chin, hissing venomously. "…Whoever it is that wanted to meet me, I can't have you running around knowing what I did." Sakuya gritted her teeth, being forced in such a humiliating position…! "Speak why I shouldn't drain you dry right here and then, Silvy?" he relaxed his grip on her chin, allowing her to speak.

"B-Because t-this …" Sakuya choked out. "Illusion World: The World!"

Alice screamed out—

Naruto flinched back—

And time—no, everything…

Everything stopped.

A/N: I'm back with this series! But man I really feel bad for ending it with a cliffhanger… but hey, the deeper the hole, the better it is! Get it? Get it? No? Okay. Anyway… I really need a beta reader. If any of you are willing to help this undependable, lazy, sloth of a man please do give me a PM. And to those of you silent readers who are just reading, continue to do so! I'm also checking views!

Well, anyway, recaps time:

I kind of wanted to show that the Touhou characters are more… how should I say this… manipulative when it comes to magic. And Alice, seeing that she is a magician—similar yet very much different than Patche—she is able to use her magic more flexibly, not only for using spell cards. Like, for example, healing a wound.

For those who are thinking that this is a NaruAli fanfic… yeah, I'm getting your hopes up.

You can't have a Touhou fanfic without having the Scarlet Devil plotting something on her throne called fate now can you?

As for Naruto capable of getting through both Sakuya—or Alice for that matter without them detecting his presence… okay who am I kidding with. First off, Naruto is a ninja. He's good in stealth, that's obvious. Second, as skillfull as Sakuya is badass, I don't think that she could escape from a chain enhanced with Naruto's chakra—which is still a mystery that has yet to be solved. And third… I just love that spell card of hers, and it's not because of the reference it provides.

Now, some expected questions from the readers:

Just how strong is Naruto?

Ans: Pretty strong. Read more to find out.

Remilia wanting Naruto? Cliché…

Ans: Hey, I'm planning something here and I don't care if it's damn cliché.

What about Danzo?

Ans: We'll cover more about him the next arc.

Okay… so those are some questions that my friend asked when I asked them to read this chapter. Well, to make things short, that's all the time I have left and I'll see you guys at the next update.

See ya and have a good day/night!