Sorry for this one taking so long to come out, but I wanted to start planning for the next chapter before letting this one out, as well as getting into my other two stories. Not to mention, I managed to get a full time job, and it's provided me a much greater respect to those fanfic writers that have to juggle both. But enough about me, and let's get onto the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Naruto or Sailor Moon franchises except for this particular story.

"Congratulations, you all pass!" Meitsuki told them happily, a wide grin on his face that shut his silver eyes. Too bad that kept him from noticing the hilariously stunned visage on the eleven people in front of him.

"Wait wait wait a second! What the hell do you mean 'we passed'!?"

"Exactly what it means Jupiter. Although it took you guys a while, you were all able to capture the bells from me, if only for a short time" he explained, "and that was only because you all made the right choice putting the safety of your comrade over winning this little game of ours."

He calls this a 'little game'? they all thought, the more hot-headed girls with a bulging vessel on their forehead.

"And for choosing to save Sailor Uranus over completing the test" he continued, grabbing their attention, "I'll even allow all of you to have some lunch before we continue, bells or no bells."

THAT got Sailor Moon's attention as she started jumping in anticipation. "REALLY?! Alright!! Where is our lunch Tsuki-sensei?!" The rest of the Senshi looked pretty excited themselves if in a more subdued manner.

"It's already right here, heated and ready to serve!"

"…"

"…um…Meitsuki-sensei, I do not believe ingesting dangerous liquid toxins qualifies as a safe meal."

"What are you talking about? What dangerous toxins?" the silver haired boy seemed genuinely confused as he examined the wooden mystery tub, as if something about it had changed drastically since he saw it last.

Rei decided to explain it to the cloak wearing ninja. "What Sailor Pluto means is why are you telling us that we can eat the same thing you just threatened to plunge Sailor Uranus into? I don't know about you, but eating something like acid wouldn't exactly be healthy for us."

"Acid?" he repeated to himself, before suddenly brightening like a light bulb had just lit inside his brain. "Wait, you all seriously thought that this thing was filled with acid or something like that?" he asked, looking at them in a way that made them feel incredibly foolish. "Where do you think I could have even gotten all that stuff anyway?"

"Then just what is in that giant container?" Sailor Venus asked the teen.

As his response, he just signaled all of them to follow him as he went around to the back of the container. Connected to the other side of the giant wooden tub was a faucet, and the girls suddenly noticed that Meitsuki was holding a bowl in his hands. He held the bowl underneath the faucet before twisting the faucet open. A very familiar concoction fell out into the bowl, and when Meitsuki presented it to them they had a very hard time not falling to the ground in shock. Or pounding his aristocratic face into paste in their anger

"Tadaa, a nice steaming bowl of miso ramen cooked and ready to serve!"

"You tricked us!" Sailor Mars yelled at the still grinning teen, followed with glares from most of the other Senshi.

The teen just shrugged in response. "Not my fault you all assumed stuff so easily. Take it as a lesson to never accept anything at face value. As my old sensei used to say, 'look underneath the underneath' and all that jazz." While the others were preparing to pounce, a certain Senshi had something much more different in mind.

"Can you get me a bowl too Tsuki-sensei?"

"Sailor Moon!" the others shouted aghast, the odango-hair girl at least had the nerve to look sheepish.

"What, I'm hungry!"

"Of course I can" Meitsuki responded, taking out a scroll from within his cloak, surprising the Senshi when another bowl appeared in a cloud of smoke. "No, I'm not gonna tell you girls how I do this yet" he responded to their unspoken question. "Here you go, Moon."

"Alright!" Sailor Moon cheered, quickly starting to devour the bowl of miso ramen.

"Well, are you guys going to have some lunch or not? Trust me, you really don't want to try training without both breakfast and lunch" Meitsuki warned them, already digging into his second bowl and having an empty bowl for each of them. The others just looked at each other before sighing in defeat; winning against him was like Sailor Moon not being hungry: impossible. They all transformed back to their civilian forms. Filling up their bowls with the ridiculous ramen-fountain, the girls and Mamoru all sat around the already eating Meitsuki and Usagi.

It didn't take very long for light conversation to pick up, but when Meitsuki mentioned the genjutsu he used to knock out the girls and Mamoru, Chibiusa couldn't help but ask the quintuplet what it was they all imagined.

Momoru started off, looking uneasy as he recalled the memory. "Well, I imagined that Usako-chan was dying in front of me, she had injuries all over her and was bleeding a lot."

"Well, don't worry about it anymore, I'm right here and not going anywhere" Usagi said, hugging the college student who quickly returned it. Everybody could hear the 'aww' coming from the blonde Senshi of Love.

Meitsuki looked at the pair, his facial features expressed loads of guilty feelings. "I'm sorry about that, Mamoru. I guess I shouldn't have done something that extreme just to knock you out."

Mamoru quickly waved away his apologies. "No no, that's alright, Meitsuki-sensei, it was a fight. At least now I'm better prepared to deal with it if a situation like that arrives."

"So Usagi, what happened in your illusion!?" Chibiusa asked the blonde odango-haired girl, who blanched when she heard it.

"Uh, it's not important. Nope, nothing important at all!"

Minako wasn't going to take that lying down, though. "Aw, come on Usagi! As the leader, you need to set an example and admit your fears!" She leaned towards Usagi, who was beginning to feel very pressured. "Come on, tell us, tell us!"

She looked away from the circle, looking embarrassed. "I was…being chased by a bunch of ghosts. And I mean a lot of ghosts! They were all over the place and they were huge and went through the trees and then all these pale hands were trying to grab me and then-"

"Typical for the Meatball head to have something so ridiculous scare her so badly" Rei interrupted the blonde's rant before it could really get going, eating from her own ramen bowl with the grace expected from a Miko. Usagi, on the other hand, glared angrily at the black haired girl.

"What was that you fire witch!? If you're so brave, then how come you got knocked out by your illusion too!?" Usagi retaliated. Meitsuki looked at them both, reminiscing about his own arguments with a rival.

'Heh, these arguments of theirs kind of remind me when me and…Sasuke-teme would fight. Kind of makes me wonder…if Kakashi managed to get him back successfully after I took that jutsu.'

"Because unlike you, the subject of my illusion was actually something frightening."

"Ohh, something that managed to scare Rei!" Minako yelled excitedly. "I've gotta hear this!" While the others didn't vocalize it, Meitsuki could see they were all somewhat curious over what she thought. Hell, even he wondered what it was; he wasn't the one in control over the subject of the illusion, and it wasn't a jutsu that would make anything too scary, one of the reasons the Magen Narakumi no Jutsu was only a D-Rank illusion.

Rei, seeing that all eyes were on her, sighed while placing her ramen bowl in front of her. "It was similar to Mamoru's, although all of you were there. It was…pretty bloody, but the worst part was who was attacking you guys."

"Who was it?" Minako continued in her questioning. "The Dark Kingdom? Those Aka-something guys?" Meitsuki's eye twitched a bit how the blonde girl could forget the name of something as important as his hunters.

"It was the Kyuubi."

The others in the circle looked at the flame wielding Senshi in surprise, especially Meitsuki.

Makoto took the role of inquisitor now, her concern shining through her eyes. "Well, you've already seen the kitsune in your vision, it couldn't have been that bad, right?"

Rei shook her head. "Then, it was only a quick still flash, like a photo. But this time, I could see how it moves…how it attacks…how it kills…it looked so real."

On the outside, Rei seemed mostly fine, but sensing people's emotions was a secret skill Meitsuki took great pride in. The fire Senshi's eyes gave away the increasing fear as the high school student recalled the experience. The silver hair, sharingan wielder was surprised at just how effective his genjutsu appeared to be.

The genjutsu I used was only a D-class, it shouldn't have been able to have this profound an effect. Maybe it's because I used the Sharingan to craft it instead? It could help explain how Itachi's Tsukiyomi is so powerful.

Meitsuki focused on Rei again, who was looking down at her half-eaten bowl of ramen. He could see that all of the people in the circle looked a bit worried over what Rei witnessed and decided he needed to input something. "You don't have any reason to be afraid of that fox, Rei."

The black haired girl looked up at him with a glare. "And who told you that I was afraid, Meitsuki?"

"Your eyes did" he answered, getting a curious look from her and the others. "I've learned to read a person's emotions based on their eyes, a highly useful skill at times. But that's not the point, the point is, that I'm not going to let you girls have to worry about that fox. I'll protect all of you, it's a promise of a lifetime!" Meitsuki finished it with his own good guy pose sitting down, getting a few giggles from some of them, a simple smile from the others. Rei just looked at him, trying to figure out how he could be so nonchalant about such a subject.

Usagi stood up suddenly, gathering the others' attention as she pointed at their current sensei. "Well, just you wait Tsuki-sensei! Pretty soon, you'll be the one needing us to save your butt from trouble!"

"Huh?" he replied intelligently.

"Usako-chan is right" Mamoru added. "The reason we're all training with you like this is so those Akatsuki guys can't get to you. None of us want to see you risking yourself just for our sake, as our friend we want to be able to help you as well."

"Mamo-chan, you messed with my heroic speech!" Usagi pouted, getting a laugh from Meitsuki and the others. After they all calmed down a bit, the cloak wearing teen pulled out a stack of papers from inside his cloak.

Taking the top piece of paper, he flips it over to show all of them a strange drawing made of ink on the piece of paper. "Anyway, this piece of paper right here is the reason why none of you have to be scared of that fox."

"I told you I wasn't afraid!"

"I never said it was you Rei" Meitsuki countered, swallowing his laughter at seeing the fire-girl really starting to heat up.

Ami looked at the strange drawing curiously before asking the question that was on all of their minds. "Excuse me, Meitsuki-sensei, but what makes those pieces of paper so valuable. Does it have something to do with the symbols drawn on them?"

He nodded in approval. "Yep, that is exactly right. You see, these drawings turn these otherwise plain pieces of paper into powerful sealing tags. I'm not going to get into the complicated process of fuuinjutsu that goes into making these as that would be too boring." The cloak wearing teen's excuse made the others sweat drop. "What you do need to know though, is that these sealing tags will be the only weapon you need against that fox if it ever shows itself."

"And why is that?"

Damn, for all the times for Ami to be curious…Meitsuki thought to himself. Although I do have to make a note to see if she has good aptitude towards seals, but for now I need some excuse.

"Well Ami, these tags are specially made to…restrict and control the fox's youkai, it's power" he added, clarifying the term for some of them, aka Usagi. "Just place these tags anywhere on the body and it'll weaken the fox and…contain it, for lack of a better word, making it more than harmless. If you can, the most effective areas are the head and stomach, but any place will help."

Ami looked at the seal tags in a new light, amazed at what those drawings were capable of. "Wow Meitsuki-sensei, those things are incredibly useful! Do you think it will be possible for you to teach me how to make those?" At least she seemed eager enough to try it, the shinobi noted.

"I could, but fuuinjutsu is a very difficult concept to grasp let alone master and its combat capabilities are limited considering the tight schedule we're on. Perhaps later on I might be able to give you a few lessons if I feel you guys are advancing quickly enough!"

Ami seemed to accept that excuse as she nodded her head in agreement. Minako, however, seemed to have had enough of the serious talk as she suddenly appeared next to the blue haired girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Enough of all this serious talk of monsters and seals and back to the important matter we were discussing before! I think we left off on Ami's turn to share her illusion, right?"

As the blue haired girl blushed in embarrassment at the reminder of her illusion, prompting the people around to laugh, two girls were deep in thought, unknowingly about the same person.

The black haired one of the duo was looking at the laughing silver haired ninja out of the corner of her mind, still pondering over the words he had spoken.

Saying he would protect us and laughing around with us…he's definitely not a typical ninja is he? He is able to promise something like that so confidently, even when it's obvious he faced that…thing before. And there's still the fact of where it came from and how it's here now, from wherever Meitsuki-sensei came from. There's no way what that illusion showed me was true!

Rei thought about that detail she had withheld from her description of the illusion/vision, she couldn't really tell what it was anymore. And that was the fact that before the Kyuubi had begun its attack...Naruto had been the one standing in its place. The fire Senshi had to wonder if her miko-derived senses were trying to warn her, there was something off about him, and he did have those marks on his face, they looked like whiskers after all - but she just couldn't accept a kind-hearted person like Naruto being the fox! Two things so different could never really be the same…could they?

While Rei was trying to figure out that question, Makoto was forming a conclusion for one of her own questions, looking down at her ramen bowl as if it was a vital clue in a murder mystery.

Is Meitsuki-sensei really Naruto? I mean, they have so many similarities, like their fun-loving nature, they can both fight, and they both love ramen. Not to mention the fact they both appeared in our lives at a similar time. But still, they look different in plenty of ways, and Meitsuki-sensei acts more serious than Naruto does. On the other hand, didn't we all agree that he was hiding how he really looked? Well, the only thing I can do is confront him about it, but the now the question is should I do it in front of the others? Maybe Naruto or Meitsuki has a reason for keeping it a secret.

In the meantime, though, the two girls abandoned their respective trains of thought for later, in time to see how Meitsuki turned the tables on Minako as she had yet to share what occurred in her own illusion.

Either way, I'm going to find out this secret the two girls thought to themselves.

Meitsuki, now Naruto after dispelling the illusion, removed his trench coat and hung it in his closet, getting ready for a shower after another harsh day of training. He had just removed his shirt however, when a sudden intrusion in his mind told him that the Kyuubi was awake again.

"Hey there gaki, so how did that test of yours go?"

Kyuubi, what have you been doing all day?! The only times you sleep for this long are when I use your youkai!

"I was just looking up on something, it's nothing you need to concern yourself with." No point getting your hopes up if its wrong after all.

The blond haired teen let out a snort at the kitsune's excuse, knowing he wasn't going to get anything more out of him. Whatever, the test by the way went as well as expected. Though something did happen with the genjutsu I used. Is the Sharingan able to make genjutsu more effective than used regularly?

"Huh, well yes it does make genjutsu more effective on a person, although only when you use eye contact to trigger it, otherwise it's mainly a boost to more easily craft them."

Well you know, that would have been great information BEFORE I USED ONE ON THEM! Naruto yelled angrily at his tenant.

"No need to get angry at me, you're the one who had a sensei with a Sharingan! I would have thought you'd know such basic information by now! Judging from the fact you aren't in a major panic, it doesn't sound like anything really bad happened anyways."

Naruto sat on his bed, looking out into nothing but sighing. Maybe nothing really bad…but Rei ended up with another vision of me losing control. She said that she saw me/you kill the others…I can tell it shook her up. I even saw that the others were worried about it. She and the others are afraid of me, Kyuubi, and it hurts no matter how much I deny it.

The Kyuubi remained silent for a few seconds, contemplating the piece of news he was given. "It isn't you they're afraid of Naruto, only the kyuubified you created by my youkai"

But that is still me! He yelled, as much as a thought can transmit yells, slamming a fist on his nightstand. I still contain you inside me, somebody that everybody thinks is a vile demon! Just saying that I contain you but am not you isn't able to convince some ninjas, people who at least know the basis of fuuinjutsu and hailed my father as a hero! What would normal people like them think if I told them what I am!?

"So you truly have so little faith in them?" Kyuubi retorted harshly, making Naruto flinch at the anger carried in the voice. "Let me tell you, cowardice is not something I expected to be a part of a student of mine."

I am no coward Kyuubi!

"Only a coward would be so afraid of their own friends. For someone who holds so much importance in his 'bonds', you really have no understanding of such a concept."

Before Naruto could even begin his rebuttal, their argument was swiftly disconnected as the blonde heard a smash originate from downstairs.

Fuck, did I forget to set the seals? Now I've gotta go deal with some intruder somehow, it better not be a fangirl. He quickly got off his bed, moving towards his door. And Kyuubi, you'd better remember that this conversation is not over.

Kyuubi didn't reply, though Naruto didn't expect him too. The reason why that Naruto doesn't know, however, was because Kyuubi didn't want to risk his student/jailor hearing his laughs, thereby making him suspicious. Apparently the boy had been so distressed he hadn't realized three very important facts about this situation.

One: He hadn't forgotten to set up the seals, but that they allowed the Senshi passage as guests to his house.

Two: His Kage Bunshin was still tidying up the place while his container had planned to shower off the dirt and grime of a hard day's training session.

Three…well…

Naruto quickly made his way down the stairs before heading towards the kitchen, the origin of the smashing sound.

"Alright whoever you are, sneaking around here is not a good idea, so you'd better get out of here righ-" his rant was cut short as he saw just who was, or were to be more precise, standing there in his kitchen.

"Makoto?"

Makoto had decided after finishing training with Meitsuki-sensei that there was no time like the present for figuring out whether he was Naruto or not. Providing an excuse to the others after the cloak wearing teen left, Makoto made her way towards Naruto's house, hoping that she might manage to catch him off guard. And if he wasn't Meitsuki…well, the brown haired girl would figure that out if they cross that bridge.

It only took a few minutes to get to his still awesome house since it was located in the same forest. The brown haired girl knocked on the door, and a few seconds later heard Naruto's voice on the other side. Another second she saw the door open to reveal the familiar blonde haired, blue eyed teen on the opposite end of the door, looking at her in a mix of shock and confusion.

"Makoto, what are you doing here?"

She decided to try a more subtle approach for her answer, putting on a mock angry face in response. "What's that supposed to mean, you didn't want me here?"

"Nonono, it's not that! I just…didn't expect you to come here at this time. Didn't you guys say you were doing some strenuous activities and needed to rest afterwards?" Makoto hid her sheepishness at the lousy excuse the Senshi had given him to explain their training sessions. Instead she grinned happily at the blonde.

"Well, I wanted to check up on you, I didn't want you to feel we were ignoring you or anything. This is just something really important we have to do. So, are you going to let me in or do I have to wait out here?"

"Oh, sorry about that! Sure, come on inside." Man, I hope the boss realizes that somebody is here the clone hoped, closing the door behind her. The two of them went into the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink or something Makoto, I was just getting ready to make dinner."

"Sure, if you have any tea that'd be great."

"Coming right up."

It only took a couple of minutes for the clone Naruto, not that Makoto knew it, to arrive with a cup of tea for the lightning Senshi. Thanking him, she took a sip of it, putting it down while Naruto started getting pots and such out of the pantry.

"So, was there any other reason you came to see me, Makoto?"

And here was the golden opportunity.

She took a deep breath, setting down her cup of tea as she prepared herself. "Well, there was…one question that I needed to ask you."

"Fire away" he said, not turning around.

"…Do you know anything about a person named Meitsuki?"

CLANK

Naruto turned to look at me, rubbing his head sheepishly seeing that he'd dropped the pot he had been previously holding. "I'm sorry, but could you repeat that question, I don't think I heard you right."

The blonde's reaction had almost made the brown haired girl assured of her answer. "No, I think you heard my answer perfectly Naruto…or is it Meitsuki-sensei?"

Makoto had to admit he was a good actor, the confused look on his face almost had her convinced that he really didn't know what she was asking.

"I'm sorry Makoto, but I really don't know what" he was interrupted by some noise coming from upstairs – a door closing and some footsteps.

"Alright whoever you are, sneaking around here is not a good idea, so you'd better get out of here righ-" The kitchen door suddenly flew open, revealing a second Naruto going from angry to shocked.

"Makoto?"

The girl looked between the two copies of the blonde, the silence between the three of them was stifling and the tension could be cut with a knife. The silence was broken after a minute by the Naruto she had been sitting with slapping his forehead.

"Way to go Boss, screwed this up pretty badly, didn't you? I mean, what made you so unfocused you couldn't even tell it was Makoto?"

That Naruto became a poof of smoke, startling the Senshi as she saw a familiar projectile imprint into a cupboard.

The Naruto who had thrown it, presumably the real one, just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stupid clones, they always got to be so sassy when doing tasks not related to fighting." His attention again returned to the girl now standing. "So I guess I do have some explaining to do, huh?" When Makoto failed to respond, however, he walked up to her, waving a hand in front of her face. "Yoohoo, are you there? Anybody home?" The blonde hoped he hadn't scared her too badly with his little stunt just then. It wasn't until he finally noticed the climbing shades of red on her cheeks that he finally bothered to look down at himself.

Apparently the third thing he had forgotten was to grab his shirt again.

The blonde's face held a red Hinata would be proud of. "Um, maybe I should go get fully dressed first?" Finally Makoto gave a response, even if it was just a small nod of her head. He took it as a positive and quickly rushed back upstairs.

Man, if Naruto didn't already show an interest in Rei, I might have taken a shot at him with a chest like that. The lightning Senshi thought. Good thing Minako hasn't seen that, or she might try anyway.

A few minutes later finds the two of them sitting across the other at the kitchen table, Makoto looking at Naruto and Naruto/Meitsuki looking everywhere else but her.

As if having finally gathered up the courage, the blonde teen turned his attention towards her. "Well, since there's no point going over the whole 'I'm Meitsuki' thing, we might as well just start with any questions you still have. So, why don't you start?"

"First of all, why did you keep it a secret?"

"At first, it was for my own security" he started, getting a curious glance from the girl. "It's basic shinobi training to conceal what you can from strangers, especially when in enemy territory. I had no idea where I was at the time, in reality I should have been dead – yes I'll explain that later too" he added before Makoto could fire off her question. "If you girls had been enemies, I didn't want you to know that I had any sort of combat training. The point was only cemented when I saw that people around here don't use their chakra. How quickly do you think people would panic if they saw some teenage boy using the jutsu I use?"

Makoto nodded at his explanation, it did make sense, although a bit too cautious. "Well, what about your Meitsuki disguise, where did that come from?"

"Actually, I got the idea from all of you. Remember the fight against that monster in the mall?" Makoto nodded at the memory, it had been the first time they met Naruto's ninja form Meitsuki after all. "I noticed that while people were running from the beast, they appeared glad that you girls were there, working in costumes, which if I might advise again really don't do much to cover your identities" he added, getting a glare from the brown haired girl. "Anyways, I thought that getting a disguise for myself would allow me to help you girls while still being able to assimilate to this world as Naruto, until I could either find a way back home or at least determine you girls were truly friends."

At the last part of his explanation, Makoto began to frown. "So, does that mean you still don't think of us as friends? I had to figure it out on my own after all."

Naruto began to panic. "No no no! I didn't mean it like that?!"

"Then why are we all still in the dark?"

"The reason I didn't want you guys to know was because…because I was having too much fun."

She frowned again at him. "Fun?"

He shrugged. "Well, maybe fun isn't the right word, I was just…enjoying the normal life. A ninja's life is busy with little time for fun and regular old hanging out like your world's teenagers do. That's especially true for me; I'm…abnormal, even for us ninja, something about me I didn't have control over. Most people in my village hate me, fear me for it although it got somewhat better over the years. This abnormality is why the Akatsuki are after me, I've had to constantly train myself in order to survive encounters with them. All that training gave me little time to do typical friend stuff, and even when I do my friends were…wary of me, not scared or hateful, just anxious, like I was a bomb waiting to explode."

Makoto looked at the blonde confused. "I don't get what this has to do with us though." He looked at her with a strange mix of joy and seriousness, more than she imagined he could do when not acting as Meitsuki.

"These past few months have been some of the greatest times in my life. Going to the mall, the arcade, the dance, hell even school is better here since teachers don't ignore me and I can prank people all I want without getting caught. Although having fangirls is a lot less fun than I thought it would be." Both of them shivered at the mention of those. "The point I'm trying to make is…I didn't want that to change. I didn't want you guys seeing me differently, as though I was some kind of freak or something dangerous."

Naruto waited to see his friends reaction, whether it was a smack, some hateful words, something. What he didn't expect was for her to giggle at his little monologue.

"What's so funny?"

"You are Naruto. Why do you think we'd think any less of you" she replied after her giggle fit ended.

"Huh?" He didn't really understand what was funny about it.

"We're your friends, and just because you're not normal doesn't mean you are dangerous. You forget that we are pretty abnormal ourselves, we fight monsters regularly after all. You don't have anything to worry about."

While the blonde looked at her hopefully as she began her explanation, her final statement caused him to slump in his seat dejectedly, facing the floor.

"So, I guess this means you're going to tell the others everything, huh?"

The lightning using Senshi looked at him carefully for a few seconds, before she lifted up her cup of tea. "What, tell the others that you know how to make tea? It's surprising, but it's nothing to be embarrassed about Naruto." Her comment made the blonde lift his head to gaze at her, his confusion evident. Although then he noticed that while she was taking another sip, there was an undeniable smirk on her face. He smiled gratefully towards her.

"Thanks Makoto." She finished off the cup.

She spoke. "It's your secret to tell, I'm just saying that there isn't as much to worry about as you think there is."

"Yea, maybe your right." Still, if I'm going to tell them about this, it's only right I tell them all of it, and I don't think I'm ready for that yet. He looked at Makoto, who was now getting up from her seat. But maybe it won't be that long until I am, considering how great they treasure friendship. This friendship of theirs…it's so...different compared to back home.

"Now come on, I'll start making dinner."

"Wait, I was going to be making dinner." Naruto rebuked when he saw Makoto gathering ingredients from the pantry.

"Yea, well I need some practice cooking for a guy, you know?" She turned around to smile at him. "And besides, I have a new dessert idea that I'd like your opinion on."

Oh god no! Naruto thought terrified. Sure, Makoto was an excellent cook, but that was following recipes and directions that she might make tweaks in. However, she felt that in order to become a great housewife in the future she needed a personal, custom dish. So far…her attempts have ended horribly, several times Naruto had to spend hours at a toilet from taste testing her dishes. "Uh, you know what, this isn't really necessary is it? You should really be heading home anyways right?"

"I may be wrong, but it sounds like you're trying to send me away, Naruto. Are you saying you don't want to try my new recipe?" He could hardly stand to look at the sad façade she put up, with big teary eyes and everything, yet couldn't look away either.

The shinobi had no chance, so just sighed. "This is for what I did to you during the test today, isn't it?"

"Why, whatever could you mean, I just need your opinion on this dish." The slightly devious smirk on Makoto's face did not go unnoticed.

"Sir, there's a man named Daje Tei hear to see you."

"Send him in, Ogata-san" a man responded, lifting his finger from the intercom's button. He took the time before his guest's arrival to make sure his desk was orderly, that nothing appeared out of place.

You could say that Kimura Hondo was a bit too meticulous with the order of his office at times, but being the mayor for a bustling city like Tokyo demanded from him efficiency and a keen eye for details. He made sure that everything was running smoothly, or at least as smoothly as it could with…monsters, for lack of a better term, appearing and causing property damage and havoc on the populace. Kimura had hoped that such strange occurrences had been solved after a long break with no strange beasts going around, but such hopes were dashed ever since that monster at the mall appeared a few months ago. At least those Sailor Senshis were still around, along with that new ally of theirs, otherwise who knows how much more of the city's budget those things would eat up through reparations. The mayor just hoped that the man he was about to meet's gift for the New Year's Festival coming up in less than a week would help cheer up the citizens.

'After all, a mayor that can keep citizens happy through a crisis is a mayor that gets reelected.' He chuckled at the thought.

The young man was jarred from his thoughts, however, by the sound of his door being opened.

Daje Tei looked older than the mayor expected, maybe somewhere in his fifties. What was probably blonde hair at one point had faded into a near white, and his face held the stereotypical wrinkles that came with age. He was well dressed in a formal suit, although Kimura expected him to be if Jade was as wealthy as he told him.

"Please, take a seat Tei-san" Mr. Hondo gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk, maintaining his manners. The older man nodded gratefully as he took said seat. "Now, I believe you were here to propose something for our New Year's Festival if I wasn't mistaken."

"No, you're correct" Tei spoke, his voice reflecting his age. "You see, it's been a long time since this city got to enjoy a snowy New Year's Festival, not since the time I was a young boy myself. I was always fascinated and awed by snow, and the way the fireworks and snowfall mixed that one festival so long ago, the way the colored lights seemed to reflect off the falling snowflakes and color the sky, has been an image imprinted in my mind all my life…to be honest, it's been a dream of mine to see such a glorious sight again."

Kimura Hondo looked at the older man skeptically. "Well, while that is a great story, Tei-san, I'm afraid that the next snowfall isn't predicted to occur until a few days after the festival, and we can't afford the materials necessary to produce a snow-white New Year."

"Oh, but that is why I'm here, Hondo-san. I told you that I have become a wealthy individual, but I guess I forgot to mention it was because of my grand snow making business, Tenoushi Ind., my old age is catching up to me it seems" the old man chuckled to himself, whilst the mayor looked at him wide-eyed. "I'm willing to provide a few snow machines for no charge in honor of the festival to recreate that memory again."

"How very kind of you, Tei-san, but I can't in good conscious allow you to do something so grand for nothing" Kimura said, but Daje shook his head.

"It's no trouble at all, young man, believe me. The look on the citizens' faces as they witness the grand sight I had will be reward enough for me." The mayor seemed to resign himself at this.

"Well then, I suppose we should discuss how we shall proceed with this."

The mayor's office for the next hour was brimmed with discussion on when Tei's machines would arrive and where to be stored, not to mention where they'd be placed for the festival. After such, the two men bid each other goodbye as the older man made his way out of the office. Considering the old man was walking out, the mayor failed to see the smirk gracing his lips, one that didn't fit with his visage.

'Yes, the look on those people's faces will be quite the sight to see, as their energy is drained for the queen.'

As such events were going on in the outside world, within Naruto's mind a familiar red haired man, or more correctly demon, closed a book he had just finished going through, a sigh expressing his disappointment for finding nothing relevant to his needs. The ancient being leaned back on his chair, glad that at the very least it was comfy enough to have to sit in for hours in order to commit to his research. Kyuubi let go of the book, but instead of falling to the ground like one would expect, it rose up a foot, levitating towards a book shelf in front of him before carefully being put into its original place as if it had never left. Seeing it was where it was supposed to be, the demon lord looked to his right. Kyuubi sighed again, glaring angrily at the bookcase in front of him. It was like any other one you'd find in a regular library, except for it being a mile long, truly it was a mile long, filled with books and tomes that he had left to search through for an answer to his dilemma. It also didn't help that there was another bookcase behind him, equally as long as the first.

God dammit, the things I go through for this brat, but sitting here complaining ain't going to help me find it faster. Sighing again in his resignation, the next book on the shelf carefully wriggled out of its spot, slowly levitating into Kyuubi's waiting hand, opening itself to the first page for the red haired man to begin again.

Sometimes having millenia worth of memories is such a pain in the eternal ass.

Well, I'm sure some of you are wondering why there wasn't much action, but this is more of a set up for the really exciting stuff coming up soon. And don't bother asking what Kyuubi's doing as I won't answer, some of you will most likely realize it anyway. I can only hope I can make it epic enough to make up for all the time you guys have to wait for it. So hurry and review, as reviews make me happy, and happy authors gain more inspiration.