Here is chapter 10, only a week later as promised. I already know there are going to be a few of you, who are going to have some negative things to say about this one and that's fine. I just ask that you be honest and respectful during your review. Myself on the other hand, I had a lot of fun writing this so hopefully most of you will like it. I'm sure some of you have noticed that my writing style differs from other author's. I tend to use English and Japanese translations when it comes to Naruto terminology, because I am a fan of both and I can be really indecisive when it comes to things like that so I just wanted to throw that out there.

Last chapter there were a few of you who were upset that I didn't continue on from chapter 8 with the cliffhanger. Some of you even said you didn't see the importance of the chapter, but truthfully chapter 9 was almost as important as chapter 10. The reason it was so relevant was because of the discoveries. Chapter 1 and 2 I posted almost two years ago (Oh yeah this fic is 2 years old now. Damn I just noticed lol.) So if you forgot what happened you might want to take a peek to refresh your memory.

The title was called revelations for a reason; it was a chapter of very important discoveries. Within the alliance Temari discovered possible treason, while also coming closer to finding the whereabouts of Gaara and Naruto, which happens to matter a lot since the alliance really needs them.

Well you guys have been waiting patiently for this. The long awaited chapter. Enjoy!

Read & Review!

Chapter 10: Explanations

"Shinobi?" Yukari repeated with interest as she sat up on Tsukune's bed with her legs crossed and her witch hat placed in her lap.

"It's another word for ninja," Naruto explained.

Naruto and Gaara were just in the middle of explaining their occupation to their curious friends. So far they defined their missions and ranking system, they talked about the role of a Kage, but Gaara didn't mention that he happened to be one. That would just complicate things and the last thing he needed was for anyone to look at him differently because of his status as a village leader.

The atmosphere was now relaxed, all the tension that was there before had completely dissipated. Moka, Kurumu, and Mizore had all calmed down. With no more hostility, the seven of them were able to talk in a civilized manner.

"So you're mercenaries for hire?" Moka asked glaringly. She had seen ninja before when she use to live with her father in Japan. Many people wanted him dead since he was a powerful and well respected vampire. With that being said, there were organizations who would hire these ninja to attack the Shuzen estate. They were gifted agents who specialized in stealth, espionage, and assassination. They were truly talented killers but none of them were a match for her father. Even in their monster forms they couldn't hold a candle to any of the vampires under his command let alone himself. "We have ninja in this dimension as well you know? What makes you different?"

Gaara nodded, "Yes we are aware of this. I actually went to the library not too long ago to conduct some research." Though he and Naruto had been busy since they arrived that wasn't going to stop them from learning about this unfamiliar world they fell into. The red head new better than anyone that it is foolish to stay ignorant when you're out of your element. "Naruto even rented some movies for us to watch."

Kurumu lifted a brow as she addressed Naruto, "Really?" she asked with a sideways glance.

"Yeah," Naruto grinned as he made himself comfortable on Tsukune's bed. Casually he eased back against the wall while placing his hands behind his head. Despite the annoying situation they were in he was actually feeling alright. He had taken three showers to wash off the smell of being inside a Dorian's stomach before going to the infirmary with the others, so he was feeling refreshed. "Before now I didn't even know libraries rented out movies. We didn't have much else to do last weekend so I figured why not? So we watched Attack of the Ninjas, Invisible Assassins, and The art of Killing." The blonde shrugged carelessly. "They were alright movies, but if the ninja of this world are that limited I'm really disappointed."

"What are you saying?" Mizore asked.

"He means that the ninja of this time can't even begin to compare to the shinobi of our dimension," Gaara answered solemnly. He didn't want to come off as cocky but he wanted to be honest with them. That is what they asked for after all.

Tsukune scratched the back of his head confusedly, "Alright… but this still doesn't make sense. How are you two able to do the things you do? We've seen plenty of crazy things at this school, but nothing like what you've done."

Though the two were trying their best to explain things, it seemed that it wasn't enough. Before the conversation had even begun, Naruto and Gaara decided to filter the information given. Without exchanging words they knew that to say and what not say, it was an unspoken agreement between them. If they explained one thing they would do it in limited detail. Second rule was they would always consult with each other before revealing anything, out of respect for each other's privacy.

Last but not least the most important rule of all. Do not talk about their childhood. There were a lot of painful things that happened in the past and they preferred that it stayed that way. Even among their own people they were different and they were okay with that fact. Still, something's were better left unsaid.

However, Tsukune's question didn't overstep their boundaries, but it did complicate things. Pushing his back off the wall Gaara stood up straight. "I guess I have no choice," he sighed slightly annoyed. "I'll give you a demonstration, but before I do that, tell me…have you guys ever heard of something called chakra?"

As soon as the word chakra left his mouth the room went silent. Hell you could practically hear crickets and it wasn't even night yet. Naruto looked around the room with his big blue eyes to see that all of his friends had a bewildered expression. Seriously? He frowned as his eyes went from one body to the next. It was kind of sad to him since every living being had chakra; it was an energy that was constantly used by everyone. Hell it was basically a life or death necessity. He was just about to give up hope when he saw the preteen sitting across from him raise her slender arm.

Yukari gulped nervously, "Umm…I have," she mumbled.

Gaara stared at the girl questionably. I guess it's not too surprising that she's the one person who knows what chakra is. She is the smartest student at this school after all. Regardless I wonder how much she knows.

"Very well Yukari," Gaara remarked in deep monotone. "Do you mind explaining?"

Suddenly all eyes were on the young witch and she was a bit taken back by this. Usually she was the one who got the least attention because of her small stature and age. Constantly she was overlooked by her peers because she was different. Now the focus was all on her and she felt a little uncomfortable, but that didn't mean she was going to show weakness. "Okay…I'm not sure if this is correct, but I was taught that chakra is the molding of one's physical and spiritual energy."

"Bingo!" Naruto declared with a smile.

Gaara nodded his approval. "Correct and chakra is also a life energy that everyone possesses in our world and it can be used for techniques we like to call jutsu, but it can also be used to perform even the simplest tasks." Turning around the red head faced the wall that he was just leaning against. Without even uttering a word he placed one foot on the wall and then proceeded to walk up it. Tsukune and the others watched in awe as he continued to pace up the vertical partition, while Naruto observed in mild amusement. Once he reached the ceiling he halted, but only for a second and then he continued moving until he was hanging upside down from the center of the cap.

The five of them watched in awe as Gaara hung from the ceiling like a lifeless chandelier. Though the stoic male seemed bored with what he was doing, the others seemed absolutely fascinated.

"Wow!" Yukari exclaimed.

"How the hell is he doing that?" Kurumu shrieked. Walking up a wall was no tremendous feet for certain monsters with unique abilities, but to see a human do it like he was walking in a park seemed unreal.

"I haven't a clue," Tsukune murmured in a daze.

Moka's expression remained passive, but she silently took it all in. "Interesting," she whispered to herself.

"It's simple! He's pumping chakra to his feet!"

Naruto's obnoxious voice echoed three times which caused the others to shift their attention onto him. But when their ignorant eyes turned to his direction instead of seeing only Naruto they saw three of him. They sat on Tsukune's bed legs crossed with a foxy grin as they chuckled to themselves.

"Huh?" Mizore rubbed her eyes just to check in see if she was hallucinating. When she reopened them the three blonde's remained. "It would seem Kurumu wasn't lying. He can clone himself…"

The snow woman wasn't too shocked to see this, Kurumu did warn her after all. What did bother her was the fact that they were able to do these things with ease. Since she and the others had begun attending Yokai academy they had fought several powerful monsters but none of them were masters of stealth and speed. Kuyou was a true demon through and through but he was anything but crafty. Hokuto Kaneshiro was the mighty leader of the Anti-Thesis group. He was a brilliant fighter, equipped with great intellect and loyal followers. However, when compared to Gaara and Naruto he didn't seem all that special. Not only were these two strangers strong but they were also very smooth and clever.

"Hmm…" Inner Moka hummed as her demonic eyes focused in on the three blondes as she stalked towards them. Without warning she poked the one on in the middle hard with her sharp index finger.

"Ah!" he yelped. Unintentionally the vampire's sharp nail dug into Naruto's skin creating a small cut on his bicep. "Dammit! What the hell was that for Moka?" Immediately his other two copies disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Mizore shook her head, "Well that was unnecessary…"

Kurumu agreed, "Yeah Moka, I mean I know Naruto's an asshole but that doesn't mean you have to stab him."

The girl in question glared at them. "It was an accident," she growled.

Her crimson orbs bulged when she realized her mistake. Sometimes she forgot her own strength. "My apologies Naruto, I was only trying to see which one of you was the original. I guess I used too much force… Are you okay?"

Naruto grimaced as he watched the small amounts of blood leak from his skin. "Well congratulations you guessed right! But you could have just asked me you know?" he muttered as his orange t shirt became slightly stained. Fuck, just great now I have something else to explain. The hyperactive shinobi wasn't worried about the scar; though it was pretty deep he had far worst injuries in the past. His concern lied with what was about to happen. "Don't worry, it's just a scratch," he mumbled in discomfort.

"Are you sure? Can I get you something?" Moka offered sincerely. Though she didn't mean the boy any harm, the smell of his blood was starting to have an effect on her. All it took was a whiff of his crimson fluids and her nostrils began to flare. Yes, there's no doubt about it. That's definitely the blood of a human, she thought as she licked her moist lips. She wanted nothing more to sink her fangs into his neck to satisfy her thirst, but she knew she couldn't do that. To control her urges she took a few cautious steps back and she accidently bumped into Gaara who was standing behind her. When did he get there?

"Naruto doesn't require any medical aid," he remarked.

Kurumu gaped at him, "You've got to be joking? Your cousin has blood dripping down his freaking arm!"

The stoic teen shrugged. Women are such dramatic beings. "Then go fetch a wet cloth to clean it up. Other than that he doesn't need anything."

Kurumu was about to protest again, when she felt Mizore's cold hand on her shoulder. With a stern face she shook her head which basically told the succubus to drop it.

"Don't do anything…Just watch and observe," he said.

Right on cue, the gash in Naruto's bicep began to sizzle and small streams of steam began to flow. The blonde winced as he watched his cut start to glow and slowly close. When the kyuubi healed his injuries he didn't feel pain, but there was still this uncomfortable sensation that came with the healing. Within a minute, his bruise had vanished completely. The only evidence to prove he had a cut at all was the tear in his shirt and the remaining blood running down his forearm. "What a pain in the ass," he grumbled.

"Incredible," Moka gasped.

Mizore tilted her head thoughtfully, "I guess that explains a lot, huh?"

All of the girls were caught off by this sudden development, but this was something Tsukune was prepared for. When they first walked in class almost a month ago and Naruto had no visible injuries after he originally found him with more than few small bumps and bruises a week before. He has high-speed healing abilities; I had a feeling that was the case.

By this time Kurumu had already left and came back with a heated wet cloth as Gaara instructed. Pushing past Moka and Mizore she held out her hand to offer it to him. "Here," she said blankly.

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously while eying the material.

She rolled her eyes irritably. No one could be this stupid. "I'm giving you something to clean your arm with. Now take it!" she growled.

"But why do this for me?" he asked with a glare. "You never do nice things for me so why start now?"

The succubus's face became warm with embarrassment, so she turned away from him to avoid his gaze. "Don't read too much into it; I'm just tired of looking at your bodily fluids. It's gross."

"Well thanks but no thanks. Your assistance isn't required," he replied smugly.

A vein pulsed hard in Kurumu's head and she felt the last bit of her patience slip away. "Fine…Have it your way then!" she growled before promptly sitting down beside him. Snatching his arm aggressively, she started to clean his arm thoroughly.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelped as he tried to tug his arm away from her. "I told you I don't need your help!"

"I told you the exact same thing earlier in the woods so I don't give a shit!"

The two continued to bicker a little bit longer before Naruto finally conceded. Moka sweat dropped as she watched the succubus roll up the blonde's sleeve. Curiously she leaned over and whispered in Mizore's ear.

"What was that all about?"

The snow woman shrugged uncaringly while slurping on her lollipop. "Hell if I know."

Once things calmed down an awkward silence once again enveloped the room. Naruto looked from left to right to see all his new friends were quiet, but he could sense their interest and uncertainty. They weren't looking at him directly but each of them was taking subtle glances here and there. He looked to his close friend for guidance, but the red head held an unreadable expression. In other words, he decided that it wasn't his business. Relax Naruto, you already seen this coming so it's best to get it over with. "I guess I should probably address the elephant in the room. All of you are wondering what just happened right?" he asked. When he didn't get an answer, he took a different approach.

"Scratch that, you all know what just happened. So you must be wondering how the hell a human did it." The blonde heaved a trouble sigh while trying to keep his composure. No matter how much he got used to it, he didn't like talking about his curse. No jinchuriki did.

"While I may not be a monster…I do have one sealed inside of me," he stated in a hushed tone while clutching his stomach.

The news was stunning but it didn't take them long to recover. Tsukune was the first to voice his curiosity. "There's a monster inside of you!?" he asked skeptically. He didn't know why it but he was actually more intrigued than he was scared. "How is that possible?"

Moka eyes narrowed in suspicion. She did have an open mind and everything that Naruto and Gaara had told her thus far, she believed. Still a demon trapped within a human was a little farfetched even for someone with her background. "I've never heard of anything like that before."

Yukari's mouth was agape. "No way!

Kurumu was now momentarily speechless and Mizore was so shocked that her grape sucker fell out of her mouth and hit the floor with a dull thud.

Naruto frowned, "I know it's hard to believe, but it is the truth." He turned to Moka with an intense gaze. His blue eyes bore into her crimson ones. "That dark energy you've been sensing is the chaotic chakra of a tailed beast."

"Tailed beast?" The vampire repeated. She had never heard of anything of the sort. What kind of Yokai was it?

Naruto nodded and continued. "Tailed beasts are living entities of chakra, also known as 'chakra monsters'. There are nine of them in total and they are separated by their number of tails, the range also being from one to nine."

Once the information had settled in her big brain, Yukari once again perked up. "Hold on a minute! I've heard of these monsters before."

Openmouthed and goggle-eyed, Naruto stared at the girl dumbfounded. "You…Have?" Just how much does this little girl know? Countless times since the day they met her intellect and wisdom astonished him, hell even Gaara was impressed. If he didn't know any better he'd say she might even be smarter than Shikamaru.

"Mhmm" she hummed eagerly while nodding her head. She didn't know why, but the more she learned about these two strangers, the more comfortable she felt in their presence, even Gaara who she was initially afraid of. "When my grandmother used to visit me when I was younger she would always bring over old books for me to read. Most of them were about concealed spells and forbidden magic. But one day she brought over a superstitious book called the Legendary Tailed Yokai.

Almost instantly Gaara's head snapped up. "What?"

"Legendary Tailed Yokai," she restated for the red haired boy. "It's a reference book that's been around for centuries in my family. It's about nine gigantic creatures that were once one being. Just like you said Naruto, they were beast with enormous amounts of that chakra stuff and a different number of tails for each one." She looked over at the blonde and his mouth was still agape from the shock of her knowledge. He was so stunned that all he could do was nod for her to continue.

"My grandma told me there was a powerful sage who was responsible for the separation of the tailed beast, but before all that had taken place he had sealed the ten tailed beast within himself. Even though he was mortal he was considered to be a god among humans and all life forms. He is said to be the first human to actually be born with chakra. I…um don't remember what they called him."

"The Sage of Six Paths," Gaara elaborated.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, we don't know his actual name. The Sage of Six Paths is his moniker," Naruto stated sadly. "Gaara and I only learned about this guy a month before we ended up here."

"Wait a minute," Kurumu murmured audibly. With a focus gaze she turned to the blonde in question. "You never told us how you got here in the first place."

"That's right," Mizore added from her side. "You guys haven't told us how you came to be in our dimension. If we are really going to believe you aren't from this world shouldn't we know how you got here?"

This line of questioning frustrated the dimensional travelers. Naruto started to unintentionally let out subtle growls, while Gaara's eyes narrowed signaling his own irritation. That alone was enough to make Moka intervene. They were mad and they had every right to be mad. It was painfully obvious that they didn't want to have this conversation in the first place, but here they were telling them about their personal lives and then Kurumu and Mizore had the nerve to ask for more. She knew they were scared and curious, but they needed to be more considerate of other people's feelings.

"Please excuse them," she remarked in a polite and professional manner. "There a little bit antsy from all of the recent events. Please continue…"

"But…"

The vampire shot them a murderous glare and it immediately silenced them.

"Never mind," the girls replied in unison.

Seeing the deflated looks on their faces made the red head reconsider. Besides they did ask a sensible question. "Actually it's fine."

Moka gave him a face that said 'are you serious?' "Really?" she asked.

"There's no harm," he responded with a blank expression. "I'll just keep it brief."

Mizore and Kurumu perked back up upon hearing his decision. They weren't trying to be nosey, but ever since they found out that their new friends were from another realm they wanted to know how they ended up here. It was a phenomenon, anyone would be interested.

Gaara brushed aside a red lock that was blocking his vision. "Before we came here, we were in the middle of fighting a war."

"There is a war going on in your home world?" Moka questioned.

"Yes, the fourth great ninja war to be precise," he proceeded. Before jumping back in, he took a glance around the room and noticed all the eager eyes. If he wanted to avoid extra questions he'd have to withhold information. "During this war we encountered many powerful shinobi, because of this it was only a matter of time before we became tired and low on chakra. While Naruto and I tried to regroup we were ambushed so we took refuge in a cave. Unfortunately we were followed and attacked by an enemy." Masanori, he thought to himself. It had almost been a month and he still was dealing with that man's betrayal.

"There's no escaping this explosion…The cave entrance is enclosed, you two will die here."

Shaking his head, he quickly ridded himself of the flashbacks. He needed to move past this, but it was a lot easier said than done. "Our opponent was defeated, but he resorted to an explosive suicide as a last ditch effort to kill us. We escaped the blast, but the aftershock caused the cave to fall apart."

"What did you do?" Yukari inquired in anticipation. She might as well have been watching a movie the way she was sitting on the edge of her seat.

"Desperately we searched for an exit. We were almost out of time, when we stumbled upon this strange portal. There was some skepticism at first on my part, but when I realized there were no other options I quickly agreed. We stepped through the gate and that's why we stand before you now."

Again, the room fell under temporary silence, it had become a trend and it was becoming old fast. You would think that they wouldn't be too shocked since they don't really live ordinary lives themselves. But when he looked closer, he noticed that they weren't shocked they were thinking. Trying to figure out if his story was valid or not.

Good, it would be foolish of them to believe me without some sort of contemplation.

"I'm confused," said Tsukune.

"About what?" Naruto asked.

"How you guys got here," he replied. "Don't get me wrong. I believe you, it's just that doesn't explain how I found you two lying unconscious in the Yokai forest."

Naruto stared back at the brunette blankly. "I have no idea how that happened," he shrugged with a grin.

"That's because you were unconscious when we passed through," Gaara added.

"Oh…Yeah."

The red head then addressed the rest. "The cyclone of energy within the portal was too much for our bodies to withstand. Once we entered your world our bodies were weak and our chakra had almost been completely depleted."

Slowly Tsukune recoiled. "Wow a lot has happened to you guys in such a short time."

The blonde responded with a snort. "You don't even know the half of it."

"So let me get this straight…" Kurumu spoke as her eyes traveled from one to the other. "You two fought a war and escaped a collapsing cave by jumping through a weird portal. You then… ended up unconscious in the woods on the outskirts of our school. Am I right?"

"Yep," he chirped.

"Wow…"

"Damn, it sounds like a cliché out of some science fiction movie," Mizore stated.

Moka took a deep breath, "Well cliché or not we should be grateful they shared this with us. Now we have a better perspective. Thank you."

"Don't mention it…" Gaara remarked.

Naruto gave the grey haired lamia a grateful smile. "No prob," he was pretty happy to see Moka settled down. She was being so aggressive earlier, but now she was calmer and easier to deal with. "But what were we talking about before all this?" he asked no one in particular.

"You were telling us about that sage!" Yukari said while fiddling with her wand.

"That's right," he slammed his fist into his palm. He didn't know why, but he was warming up to this whole thing. The reactions they gave were so lively. Especially Yukari, seeing her all hyped up like this reminded him of Konohamaru and his team. It was no secret that he was really missing Konoha.

"From what I was told, the Sage of Six Paths was considered to be the God of shinobi. During his prime, he was the only human around."

Gaara picked up from where his friend left off. "Like Yukari mentioned earlier, the Sage of Six Paths was the first jinchuriki."

"Jinchuriki?"

Naruto answered, "It's a term used back home for humans who have tailed beasts inside them."

"In other words, jinchuriki means human sacrifice," Gaara deadpanned. The word sacrifice was one he understood well, that and loneliness. Yes, sacrifice is the perfect word to describe the contribution of a human container. "It is said that the sage used the Creation of All Things, a divine jutsu that allowed him to create the nine tailed beast. His power was truly unlimited, he used his own imagination to mold and shape each monster into his own image."

Tsukune, who had been quiet for the longest time found himself trying to imagine a man with that kind of power at his disposal. Just hearing it was so mind boggling that it sent his young mind into a spiral of thoughts. The god of shinobi huh? This sage had divine powers so would it be a stretch to say that he also traveled to our dimension? The hybrid was perplexed but he had this nagging feeling that this legendary man was more than just a deity of a ninja world…

Yes, he truly interested in the tale of this great man, nonetheless there was something else that was even more peculiar to him. Well we got this far so why not? He figured.

"Naruto…Gaara…?" They both shifted their eyes to the inquisitive male. "You mind if I ask a follow up question?"

The red head replied first, "Not at all."

The blonde echoed his approval, "Go for it!"

"Okay…Naruto," he started while gazing solely his energetic friend. "You said you have one of these tailed beasts inside you. Right?" when he nodded Tsukune transferred his attention onto the other dimensional traveler. "Gaara, I'm guessing it's safe to assume that you have one as well…?" as expected, the impassive teen also gave his concurrence.

Tsukune heaved an exasperated sigh of relief. "Alright, I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries here…But can you tell us about the monsters inside of you? For example what are they specifically?"

"What exactly do you want to know?" Naruto asked.

Tsukune shrugged, "Anything that you're willing to share. It's your personal life so I'm not going to pry." Unlike the girls he wasn't so hyped up that he would demand things from them.

The topic of tailed beast or biju was something that most jinchurki avoided and for obvious reasons. Growing up as the container for a monster is no picnic in the world of shinobi. If a jinchurki was even able to make friends it was best to keep it secret from them. After all, no one wants to be friends with a jinchuriki. That is until, that very jinchurki proves that there more than just the container of a malicious chakra entity.

Both of these young men had already demonstrated their loyalty by protecting their friends and villages respectively. Now they felt comfortable in their own skin. So there was nothing really holding them back from telling the truth. Besides if they really thought about it, they weren't all that different from the people surrounding them. Everyone in this room was either a monster or had its presence and everyone had a story of their own to tell. If these people were truly their friends, than they would accept them for what they were even if they were scared and didn't understand.

"I understand," Gaara softly spoke. His emotionless eyes traveled from one side of the room to the other before he took a light exhale. "I'm Gaara, jinchuriki of the one tailed tanuki, primarily known as Shukaku. My demon is an incarnation of sand."

"A raccoon dog? There's a raccoon dog inside of you?" Kurumu gasped as she tried to hold back a giggle by covering her mouth. She wasn't laughing at his expense, but she always thought they were such adorable little things. "That's so cute!" She gushed.

"Cute?" The Kazekage restated questionably. The Shukaku had been called a lot of things over the years but cute definitely wasn't one of them.

Naruto chuckled incredulously at the succubus's reaction. "Cute?" he laughed before looking at Tsukune and Gesturing his thumb towards the busty blue haired girl. "Is this chick for real?" he cackled while holding his sides. He had personally fought Gaara while he took Shukaku's form, that thing was far from cute. It was just as ugly and obnoxious as the nine tails.

The energetic blonde was so caught up in his fit of laughter that he didn't notice a hard book sailing across the room. The heavy piece of literature hit the boy square in the face, knocking him over.

"Shut the hell up whiskers!" Kurumu shouted with a balled fist.

Yukari and Tsukune chortled and even Inner Moka laughed softly at their antics. Gaara himself let the smallest of smiles grace his lips. Those two were constantly at each other's throats every day. An hour didn't go by without one of them taking a shot at the other with their witty remarks and unnecessary sarcasm.

"So that's how you do it?"

A cool voice came from the far side of the room. The red haired boy's eyes settled on the purple haired snow woman with the fierce blue eyes. Though her gaze was intense he could tell that she had relaxed a bit.

Mizore Shirayuki was an enigma to him. They had one short conversation on the first day of school and since then they hadn't really talked. Her eyes were always on him whenever he was around and he knew that she didn't trust him but there was more to it than that. He wasn't a fool he could sense what was really going on. She was scared of him and she didn't know how to deal with it, which explains her irritation. If there was one thing he knew it was fear and it radiated off the cold beauty like a hot furnace.

Gaara regarded her with half lid orbs. "Hn?"

"That's how you control sand," she carried on without missing a beat. She didn't bother questioning him further about it, there was really no need. "That's how you killed that King Dorian so easily."

There was no point in refuting her so he just nodded. "Yes, but even without its presence the earth's sand is always under my command. My biju just simplifies things, while also granting me an abundance of chakra." If Gaara was to lose Shukaku there is no doubt that he would die, but his mother is the one who gave him this power. This is something he firmly believed.

"I see," Mizore responded quietly while deep in thought.

The two clumsily exchanged glances and then quickly focused their attention elsewhere. In their own way they were just like Naruto and Kurumu. The main difference being the fact that they didn't argue, but there was obvious tension between them. Since they were quieter, the others didn't really notice it.

"What else does it do for you?" Yukari asked.

"In addition to the sand manipulation, the Shukaku also gives me absolute defense. If I am ever under attack my sand will always come to my aid without me having to summon it."

"So that's why that giant plant couldn't lay a finger on you?" Moka asked. Gaara gave her a puzzled look and she had a feeling why. "If you're wondering how I know this, Kokoa told me during my hospital visit an hour ago."

He knew that she didn't arrive until he was about to finish the monster off so there was no way she could of seen the dorian's failed attacks. She knew about this because Kokoa wouldn't stop talking about it when she visited her. "Half of her body was wrapped in bandages and she couldn't stop blabbing about your abilities. She was beyond amazed." Apparently he left a huge impression on her.

The stoic male had no instant reply. Instead his mind drifted back to the moment he found her.

That girl…

Initially Gaara had separated himself from Naruto and Kurumu so he could hunt the dorians in peace, but he had another reason for going solo. Being the thorough and prepared guy that he was, he decided the day before the trip, he'd read up on Dorian monsters. So he went to the library again, only this time he went alone to check out an index book that can shed light on the mysterious creatures. He learned that they reside underground in dry regions and that they used the fruits on their heads to lure their prey just like an anglerfish.

The most interesting thing he found out during his research was the information he read on King Dorians. They were said to be at least three times the size of the average ones. These monster were unranked but were still considered to be highly dangerous according to the book. Danger was all knew so it was right up his alley.

When the time came to hunt his prey, he knew exactly where to find them. He had been flying around the forest in search of the enormous plant monster. Before then, he had already found several and quickly vanquished them, but unlike Naruto he didn't keep the fruits. He didn't care about winning the competition, what mattered to him was testing his strength against a worthy opponent.

Gaara was riding his sand cloud southwest of the forest and was about to change directions when he heard a booming roar. It was much louder than the ones he had been hearing previously. Then there was something else. The smell of blood was lingering in the air and enticing his nostrils, so he decided to investigate. Flying rapidly through the trees he got to his destination within seconds, emerging into the open field he saw a familiar girl hanging lifelessly above a giant dorian's mouth. He immediately recognized her as Moka's crazy flame haired sister and she was on the verge of unconsciousness. At that moment he didn't have time to think, as the enormous atrocity had just released her to plummet into its hungry mouth.

Zooming toward her, he caught her in his arms before she could fall into the plants oral clutches. Not wasting time he gently placed her down on his cloud of sand and jumped off. Once on the ground he maneuvered his cloud to position the vampire a safe distance away from the plant. Her body was already bruised and battered so she couldn't afford further injury. He had made it just in time.

The red head came out of his reverie to see a surprising sight. Not only was he shocked, but every other occupant of the room was just as stunned. Bowing before him, was a prideful Inner Moka. The vampire lifted her head to look at him, her red eyes seemed empty but a small tear was sliding down her cheek.

"Thank you… Thank you for saving my little sister, I am truly grateful!"

Gaara had been momentarily speechless, but quickly regained his composure. "Moka…There's no need to thank me, I wasn't going to stand there and let her die. I did what I felt was right."

"I know, but you protected Kokoa when I couldn't and that means the world to me. Thank you," she spoke in a hushed tone and rose back to her feet. As a woman and a vampire she was known to be strong and independent, but when it came to her family she was very protective, even more so when it came to her little sister. Since they were little, Kokoa was always following her around, so she made it her duty to watch over her. Constantly she was getting into trouble, whether she got caught stealing something or got into fights, Moka had always been there to bail her out.

She may have been a pain, but she was still her precious little sister.

While at the hospital, Kokoa told her everything that happened in detail. Since Moka rarely showed weakness, she steeled herself to remain strong throughout the story. The part where Kokoa only came a moment away from becoming a dorian's lunch, made her swallow a lump that had been forming in her throat.

Moka, Tsukune stared at the girl that carried all of his affection. He was use to her outer self showing sincerity, warmth and gratitude, but not the inner version. This was completely new, but it made his feelings for this powerful Yokai even stronger.

The room was now a whirlwind of emotions. Gaara was obviously feeling strange and Naruto looked like a fish out of water on the floor. Mizore and Kurumu appeared to be lost in a daze while trying to take everything in. On the other hand Tsukune had this love sick expression on his face as he continue to gaze at Moka with adoration.

Yes, it had been a long day indeed so it wasn't weird to see everyone behaving so strangely. Still, Yukari thought as her eye landed on the blonde who was rubbing his aching head. My thirst for knowledge hasn't been satisfied!

Clearing her throat, she subtly gathered everyone's attention. "So…Naruto… Can you tell us what yours can do?"

"My what?"

"Your tailed beast…" she sweat dropped.

"Oh," Naruto chuckled before slowly rising to his feet. "You want to know about the nine tailed kitsune?"

"So you've got a demonic fox inside of you?" Tsukune asked.

Kurumu frowned, "That explains your whiskers. You inherited your tailed beast's characteristics."

Naruto was tempted to correct her but then he'd have to explain the fate of his mother and father and that was something he didn't feel like talking about. He barely told Gaara about it not too long ago, so he wasn't about to tell a group of strangers he was just getting to know. Lying was the best course of action at this time.

"Yeah, that's how I got them." He replied while tracing one of the long hairs on his cheek. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuriki of the nine tailed fox. Whenever I am injured my beast heals my wounds almost instantly."

Yukari's eyes dropped to Naruto's bicep where he was wounded. It was completely gone like it had never been there in the first place. "That's unreal!" She smiled while wishing she had a pencil and a notebook at hand. Her grandmother's book didn't have this information on the beasts. "What else?"

"Well it also grants me more chakra than any other biju." He flashed Gaara a playful smirk which the red head caught but resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "But other than that I can't really think of much else."

"Stop messing with me," she pouted while stomping her foot. "There's something you aren't telling me…"

"Hmm?" Naruto hummed thoughtfully tapping his finger to his chin. "Well there is one more thing I can show you?" Naruto grinned slyly after turning away from the preteen. "But no I can't! It wouldn't be right to do it just for a demonstration." Shaking his head in dismay the blonde watched the girl with a sideway glance.

"Come on! I really want to see it. Please!

"Oh…I don't know…"

"Don't be like that! Oh I know…I'll buy you ramen!"

Jackpot, were his exact thoughts as he calmly relaxed his face to hide his excitement. He hadn't had ramen in almost two months and he felt like he was going to die of withdrawal symptoms. Shrugging Naruto once again faced her with a reluctant expression. "Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Yes!" Yukari cheered.

"But only for a minute," he finished as he settled himself into the middle of the room.

Is he really going to do this? Gaara questioned silently observing. He really didn't mind, but he wasn't too sure if Naruto flaring his chakra like that was a wise idea. There's a good chance that some of the students at the academy were energy sensors.

"What are you going to do?" Tsukune asked with a bit of apprehension.

The boy didn't reply, instead he relaxed his body after rotating his stiff soldiers. "Here I go!" without warning he commenced. Spontaneously his arm was shrouded with yellow orange chakra that was flickering like a flame. In a millisecond the flame on his arm had went on to encase his entire body. Along with the blazing shroud came black markings and various symbols. His ocean blue eyes changed into orange orbs. Springing from both sides of his head were pointy pieces of chakra that appeared to be horns.

"Oh shit… I think he's on fire," Mizore droned calmly.

Yukari couldn't form words. But her violate eyes sparkled like she was watching the flame dance at a campfire for the first time. She was entranced.

Kurumu gawked… It had actually been something she had been doing constantly lately. Not a day would pass without the hyperactive teen doing something unordinary but this took the cake. His body looked like it was on fire and she can feel the heat radiating off of his person. The strange thing was the heat didn't seem dangerous to her, surprising she felt invitingly soft warmth. Unconsciously she stepped closer.

"Damn," Tsukune grimaced. Naruto wasn't lying when he described this chakra, he thought. This stuff is beyond chaotic! it's wilder than anything I have ever felt. It's like a whirlwind of intense energy that's flowing violently.

"Astounding," Moka remarked. Being a full-blooded vampire she was able to comprehend the full extent of his power. This chakra… it's so overwhelming. Feeling dumbfounded her demonic eyes glared at Naruto. How could someone so young hold this much power? She didn't want to be presumptuous since the earth was a vast place filled with billions of people, but right now she was under the impression that the blonde before her was the strongest being on the planet.

The only individual unfazed by this demonstration was Gaara, but then again he had seen it more than a few times. Despite this there was something he was curious about. "Naruto," he said getting the blonde's attention. "What are you sensing right now?"

"Hold on…"Yukari mumbled. "Are you some kind of empath!?"

"What the hell is that?"

Shaking her head she groaned. "Someone who can sense people's emotions."

"Yeah… well kind of… But I can only sense the negative feelings of people around me and I can only do it in this form."

"Cool!"

"That's not all…"

Yukari's attention rounded to Gaara. "There's more?"

Gaara swayed. "Yes, while in that form Naruto is nearly unstoppable. His strength and speed increase tremendously and he can make endless clones of himself which helps him utilize his abilities. Not to mention the fact that he has all of the nine tails chakra at his disposal. The nine tails has the most chakra of all the biju and it is presumed to be the most powerful."

"That's crazy!"

"Indeed, out of the two of us he is the strongest…"

Naruto smiled but didn't spare his friend a glance since he was still trying to focus. "Aww shucks Gaara, you're making me blush!" Truth of the matter was Naruto didn't rally pay too much attention to their difference in strength. They were friends and that's all that really mattered to him.

Tsukune laughed lightly while still observing the transformed teen standing in the center of his dorm room. Standing in front of him was a powerful being that was kind and cheerful, which is something that is rarely seen. When he first met the two of them, he was immediately under the impression that Gaara was the stronger one. The reasons he thought that were obvious. The red haired boy had a very intimidating presence, while the blonde seemed more welcoming.

Naruto's orange eyes narrowed while darting back in forth. "There's a lot of negativity focused all over the academy. Jealousy, greed, depression, and perverseness are emotions that are all cluttered together on campus."

Gaara contemplated, School just got out of session, so many students still remain on campus to socialize and partake in extracurricular activities. He may have been new, but he didn't lack common sense. "Well that's not too surprising, there a still a lot of students lounging in the area."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. "True, could just be some jocks and cheerleaders. I'll keep searching…"

He continued to sit and brew, patiently waiting for something to pop up. As time passed, he was able to feel more and more. Eventually he sensed some students who even had hatred within them, not to mention self destructive thoughts. Damn this school is even crazier than I thought! Though he expected to feel a lot of unpleasant things, that didn't prepare him for what he was about to sense.

"The hell…"

Gaara stepped forward. "What happened?"

Naruto balled his fist. "I've never felt something so despicable before." Whoever this person was they were pure evil. Selfishness and resentment oozed from the individual's being. This unknown entity had absolutely no substance. Growling and muttering under his breath he disappeared in a flash of yellow leaving Gaara alone with a bewildered group of teens.

"What the hell just happened?" Kurumu asked staring at the spot where he once stood.

"Naruto sensed something ominous, so he's in pursuit. He'll be back soon." Gaara replied leaning against the adjacent wall.

Curiously he peered out the open window to see students below the dorms. Passing by were kids chatting idly without a care in the world, couples holding hand and biding each other farewell with kisses and hugs. Ignorance is bliss he thought. Living so carefree, in a way he envied them. Their lives seemed so fruitful and complete that it made him wonder how things would be for him if he were born under different circumstances.

"Have you two found anything?"

He turned to see Mizore standing aside him. "Found what?"

"Have you found anything useful to help you get home?"

"No," he replied bitterly. "We have been searching constantly now for about a month and have found no indication how to get back to our dimension."

Being away from Suna for so long was slowly starting to eat away at his conscience. On the outside he was his usual calm and complacent self, but on the inside he was a tornado of uncertainty. He's the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand and he needed to be present to protect his village. More importantly there was the aftermath of the war that was still unknown. For all he knew the shinobi world could be a barren wasteland by now.

His green eyes went back to staring out window.

Last but not least, his siblings. Temari and Kankuro are a handful to deal with, but he cared about them deeply. Temari was always trying her best to get them to all to spend quality time together, while Kankuro did his best to find a way out of it. Ultimately it always ended up in an argument. Their never ending bickering was something he also missed. You two better be alive.

"How about we help?"

Gaara blinked and rounded to see Yukari smiling with her legs crossed. "What?"

"We can help you guys find your way home!" she declared enthusiastically. The brunette looked expectantly at all of her friends. "You guys in?"

"Sure," Tsukune replied. "Sounds like it could be fun."

"I know! It's going to be an adventure!"

Moka smiled and shrugged. "Well… I do owe you one so it can't be helped."

Kurumu sighed, "Well I don't have anything else to do."

Gaara was baffled, but did the only thing he knew. He bowed to show his gratitude. "Thank you."

"Mizore, are you going to help to?" Yukari asked.

The snow woman stood there in silence debating her answer. She thought that if she learned more about them it would calm her nerves but instead she was more doubtful than ever. The idea of spending an extended period of time with two men who have as much power as a dark lord didn't sound pleasant.

But then again…

Mizore's stoic visage met Gaara's. We made a deal…

"Fine," she responded. "I'll tag along…"

Gaara raised an invisible brow. "Are you sure of this Shirayuki?"

"Yes, we are friends after all." That was something that she needed to remind herself so it felt good to say it out loud. He's a friend not an enemy…

"Well it's decided," Yukari said clasping her hands together. "All we have to do is wait for-

Interrupting her sentence was a flash of yellow flickered into the window. Not a second later, Naruto stood there in the center of the room. "I'm back," he announced.

"Naruto," she finished.

"Did you find it?" asked Gaara.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I didn't find a damn thing. Well that's not entirely true." Grunting he quickly cancelled his nine tails chakra mode. Instantly his flaming chakra shroud vanished revealing his default form. "I did see something disturbing." Now he captured everyone's attention. The others slowly gathered around the jinchuriki duo.

Kurumu crossed her arms. "You seem irritated. What happened out there?"

Sighing, he walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. "I…I found this girl..." he started hesitantly while gazing at the wooden floor. He didn't really know how to describe what he saw considering he had never seen something like that before.

"And?" Kurumu frowned.

The blonde gulped. "She had been assaulted."

Tsukune and the girls gasped upon hearing these words. Their body language changed, especially Mizore who had tensed up.

The blonde's head tilted in suspicion as he continued. "I found her underneath the bleachers of the football stadium when I was searching for that dark sensation. She was half naked and in hysterics. Her body was shaking and she wouldn't stop mumbling confusing words."

Kurumu swallowed the lump in her throat before looking to Mizore. The snow woman's face remained impassive for the most part, but her teeth were clenched and her jaw wouldn't stop trembling. She's still trying to get over it, the succubus noted to herself with a solemn expression.

"I tried to comfort her, but she seemed so out of it."

Kurumu gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "So what did you do?"

"What else could I do? I picked her up and took her to the infirmary. When I got there I handed her over to the staff on the first floor and then I told them what I knew and left. I'm going to go back and check on her once we are done here."

"That's good," she smiled and the blonde returned a small grin of his own. "You did the right thing."

Gaara watched their exchange with mild interest. The two of them didn't get along with each other, but there was obviously something going on. They had been acting strange the whole day; though they were always taking verbal jabs at each other they still showed concern whenever the opposite was troubled or in trouble. You're a great actor Naruto but you can't fool me.

You like this girl… don't you?

Regardless of the fact that he didn't want to interrupt, he had to. "Did anyone see you?"

Naruto looked at Gaara like he had sprouted a second head. "Of course not! Come on Gaara do you think I'm some kind of amateur?"

"No, I just want to make sure we cover all our tracks," he replied. Things were only going to get more complicated so playing it safe was always the best way to go about things. "Did the girl notice your chakra mode?"

"I'm not sure," he said scratching the back of his head. "But does it really matter?"

"Depends, we won't know until you see her again."

"I suppose your right," he muttered breathlessly. The girl herself appeared to be somewhat lucid, but she seemed to be unaware of her surroundings. "So what happened while I was gone? Talk about anything interesting?"

"As a matter a fact we did," Moka answered.

Naruto grinned, "Well don't keep me in suspense."

"Alright," she replied stoically. "From now on the five of us will be assisting you and Gaara. We are going to help you find your way back home."

"Say what?"

"I thought it was strange to," Gaara inferred from the opposite side of the room. "Yet they seem dead set on this."

Naruto's turned to all his new friends with a confused frown. "But why?"

"The girls want to apologize for how they've been treating you lately," Tsukune remarked knowingly. He was happy that things were finally settling down. All the secrecy and tension was becoming tiresome. "They want a fresh start as friends."

Naruto faced Kurumu, "Really?"

Her cheeks were reddened from embarrassment. Nervously she fidgeted next to him. "Yeah… We haven't been making you guys feel all that welcome since you got here. We were wrong…"

Mizore also came forward with her hands stuffed in her sweater's pockets. "For that we are sorry. We've been behaving like children."

"Uhh…It's no big deal," Naruto shrugged.

"You're wrong," Moka corrected him. "Since the first introduction we've been suspicious of you. Instead of treating you with hospitality we kept you both at arm's length. There is no excuse for our behavior, but I want you to know the reasoning behind our actions. Before you came here many things had happened."

"What things?" he asked.

The vampire shook her head. "Unfortunately, I can't go into detail." Her crimson orbs scanned her friends. It wasn't her place to talk about the things that happened to the others, but Naruto and Gaara still deserved to know something about them. "Let's just say it was very unpleasant. We've been betrayed several times and each of us has been targeted at least once. Tsukune above all, has been the main focus."

"I see," said Gaara. "You thought that we might also be after him?"

"That's right"

Naruto laughed, "Seriously? I mean Tsukune's good looking, but I think I'm just as sexy if not more…"

Moka face palmed and you could hear the smacking of foreheads throughout the abode. How can someone be so strong yet so silly? "Actually Naruto I was referring to Tsukune's background not his appearance. Anyway my point is that the people who usually try and get friendly with him want him dead."

Gaara gave her deadpanned look. "Is this because he is a human?"

Blinking several times, she quickly recovered fast from her stupor. "H-How?"

Sitting in his chair stumped, Tsukune tried to figure out how the hell they came to that conclusion. He knows that they didn't sense anything different and he didn't really stand out too much. His every day routine was basic and he rarely did anything to draw attention to himself, but somehow attention always found him. There was no way it was his scent, ever since Moka injected her own blood into his bloodstream his smell started changing, she told him herself.

"Vampires love human blood…Don't they?"

Of course, Tsukune smiled. Outer Moka couldn't resist temptation like her Inner self, the smell of human blood was too much for her to handle. They were always around each other so her helping herself to his blood was expected. He couldn't be mad at her, no matter how he tried. Besides he didn't really have a problem with them knowing. "So…that's how you figured it out?"

"Yes, but Naruto and I were a bit confused considering you have powers as well since humans don't have powers in this dimension. When Moka said you have her blood flowing through your veins we put two and two together."

Tsukune nodded and shrugged. "Well it's true. I am a modified human, a hybrid of man and vampire." Unbuttoning his sleeve, he gestured to the metallic cross attached to his wrist he pointed it out. "See, like Moka I also have something to keep my power sealed."

"Fascinating," said Gaara.

"It looks pretty cool," Naruto smirked. "But Tsukune do you want to know what really gave you away?"

"What?"

"The dorians," he chuckled while pointing a finger at Tsukune. "The way you almost threw up your breakfast when you saw a picture of one was priceless!"

Tsukune was going to comment, but was interrupted by the loud voices of Yukari and Kurumu.

"Dorians!"

Tsukune rubbed his forehead and prepared for what was coming. A large pair of breast clung to his forearm while a slender arm was interlaced with his bicep. Yukari was clinging to him from one side while Kurumu was on the other. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes," Kurumu grinned devilishly.

"It's time!" Yukari shouted.

He felt a migraine coming on when he saw Mizore staring at him expectantly. Her cheeks were flushed and she had the smallest of smiles on her face. I don't like the feeling of this… he was right and it was about to get worse. The room was suddenly consumed by a brilliant light causing everyone to shield their eyes. Once the glow died down, Tsukune uncovered his eyes to see outer standing there sheepishly with her hands behind her back.

"I guess we should settle this, huh Tsukune?" she smiled.

"Moka…"

Kurumu glared daggers at the pink haired girl. "Screw you Moka! I'm going on a date with Tsukune. So there!" childishly she stuck her tongue out.

"Who the hell are you to decide that?" Mizore icily asked. "The winner of this competition gets the date and I highly doubt you killed anything boobzilla."

"Oh really?" she asked placing her hands on her hips. "Just how many dorians did you kill?"

Briefly she hesitated. "One"

The busty succubus laughed at this discovery. "Really?" she questioned with a condescending grin. "You only killed one? How lame!"

Balling her fist, the snow woman stepped toward her rival. "You're talking a lot of shit Kurumu. How many did you eliminate?"

"If you must know, I killed 3 dorians!" Earlier Kurumu said she didn't want to steal Naruto's credit because she wanted to earn her date with Tsukune, but now that the opportunity presented itself she had a change of heart.

Mizore gave her a look that said bullshit.

"What?' she frowned. "You don't believe me?"

"Of course not," was the cold girls first response. "I am the stronger one out of two of us; the idea of you beating me in a match like this is ridiculous."

Ticked off by the remark, Kurumu got even closer till she was practically in her face. "You think you're better than me Mizore? Cause if that's the case I'll kick your frozen ass right now and that will be that."

Mizore looked impassive until she cracked her neck. Rotating her shoulders, she did the same thing. "Fine… let's rock."

Before they could try and kill each other, Moka intervened. Putting herself in between the two she easily separated them. Could they go one day without doing this? "Please calm down girls. Fighting each other won't accomplish anything. We are friends so we should act like this and settle it without more conflict. Am I right?"

The girls didn't spare the vampire a glance; instead their focus was on one another. Ten seconds of eerie silence and they backed off.

"Fine," Kurumu sneered.

Mizore grunted, "Whatever…"

Once they had settled down, Moka released a breath that she had been holding. "Good." For a second there she thought she was going to have to remove her rosary though she just put it back on. With that taking care of she turned to the others. "So… what are we going to do?"

Yukari pointed to the sack of dorian fruits on the far side of the cubicle. "Well our group got five fruits and I counted Naruto's groups earlier and they have the same amount. Now the only thing to do is figure out who killed the most individually."

"Actually our group has six," Naruto redressed.

"Oh yeah, Gaara wiped out that King Dorian…"

Naruto was now stumped. "Huh?"

Tsukune took notice to his disarray. "That's right. You weren't there when Gaara killed that gigantic plant. That thing was almost as tall as this building. I know you guys are probably used to stuff like that but it was incredible to see."

"I bet it was," he murmured. The blonde converted his focus to the red head. So that's why the fruit was so big? "I bet it was."

"Naruto… Let me explain…"

"There's no need. Now I know why you wanted to go alone. You were searching for that thing the whole time. I see how it is. We save the small fries for Naruto; While Gaara gets the big burger!"

"It's not like-

"I don't want to hear it," he quickly interrupted with his hand. "You shall be receiving the silent treatment from me for the rest of the day. I hope it was worth it." With a final harrumph he moved on to the hybrid. Smirking, he playfully punched the boy in the chest. "Alright man, As far as the bet goes I win. Five dorians in total, so you're taking me out to eat ramen tomorrow and I don't want to hear any crap about us both being dudes because I need my ramen."

Tsukune chuckled to hide his discomfort. "Okay, I understand that but shouldn't we wait and find out how many fruits Gaara got?"

He snorted. "Didn't you just hear?" he questioned crossing his arms. "I'm not talking to that guy right now, so if you're curious ask him yourself."

"Okay I will… Gaara-

"Four and that includes the King dorian," the stoic boy remarked slightly annoyed. Naruto always acted like this when he felt left out, but right now he was just being ridiculous.

"Looks like I still win."

Victorious was what he was feeling until he was given a wakeup call from an unlikely person. Gently she tapped him and he rounded to face her.

"Moka"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the deal was whoever gets the most fruit gets to eat them with Tsukune. Sorry but no ramen for you Naruto," she wagged her finger in his face like a mother punishing her child.

"W-What now!?"

"She's right," Kurumu chirped.

"That was the deal." Mizore added.

"Don't feel bad Naruto," said Yukari. "You should be happy! You get to eat dorians with Tsukune!"

"But I don't want to eat a fucking dorian fruit!" he shouted.

"Why not?" Kurumu gushed with sparkling eyes. "They're so tasty!"

"So delicious!"

These girls are out of their minds. "Please, I've seen dead rats that look more appealing. Screw this, Gaara won I'm done." After his declaration he turned and headed for the window.

"Oh no you don't." Kurumu grabbed him. "You're the one who wanted to be a part of this so claim your prize!" When she saw the irritation on his face she changed her approach. Batting her eyes and pouting cutely she asked, "You're… a man of your word… right?"

Naruto sighed while shaking his head. "Damn it…"

Lunch The Next Day

Walking to a lone table in the middle of the cafeteria were two male students. Like most days the hall was packed with students and all the tables had been taken except for the one in the middle which made things even more embarrassing for the reluctant friends. In their hands were the traditional square trays that held there meal, the problem was their meals weren't all that traditional.

The blonde sat down and stared at his meal with a grimace, while the brunette looked completely disgusted. Scowling they looked at each other, both unhappy about the current predicament. Being on a date with another guy was bad enough, but now they had to eat something so vile and revolting.

Grumbling to himself, Naruto picked up his fork and started fiddling with his food. "Stupid succubus…"

As he mused, Tsukune sat there bored with his cheek in his hand. They sat there like this for five minutes until they were randomly interrupted.

"Excuse me, Tsukune Aono?"

The boy in question glanced up to see a girl standing before him. The girl was pretty, with flowing brown hair and bright green eyes that hid behind her glasses. Like over half of the girls at the academy, she took care of her body and while still dressing in uniform. "Yes?"

"Um Hi… I'm Harumi," she introduced extending her hand. "Harumi Nakamura." She was a beauty but seemed to lack confidence as her stance was a little different. "I usually don't do this, but I'm a fan of the newspaper club and I love your articles. I've been collecting them for some time now."

Naruto didn't say anything just quietly listen to their conversation still messing with big fruit on his tray.

He cocked his head with a bashful smile. "Really?" a part of him was kind of humbled then the other part was telling him that this was Mizore all over again, but he stayed calm and held out hope that this was different. "I'm flattered… I'm glad to hear you like my work."

"Are you kidding? I don't like your work I love it!" she raved then she reached into her hand bag and pulled out a miniature book with all of his articles. Opening it, she promptly flipped through the book to find a specific page. "Ah ha!" once found she practically shoved the record book in his face. "See!"

His chestnut orbs scanned the page up and down. "This is the article I wrote on the academy's teachers and faculty members." Flabbergasted he smiled up at her. "I wrote this at the beginning of my first year! I can't believe you still have this." Unlike Mizore's book, there wasn't anything strange added to it.

"Well I'm an aspiring journalist and you write the best stuff," she shrugged trying to hide a blush. Reaching back into her purse she pulled out a ballpoint pen. "Do you mind?"

"Sure," he grinned taking it from her grasp. Quickly he wrote his signature on the cover and handed it back to her. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks. I guess I'll see you around?" she questioned hopefully.

"Of course," he said.

"Well…Bye," she waved and turned to walk away. His eyes followed her as she accidentally bumped into a boy while staring back at him instead of focusing on where she was going. She vigorously apologized to the boy before quickly scurrying off.

Amused, he watched her retreat. There was no doubt that she was clumsy but she was still cute and kind of appealing.

Smack!

"Ah!" Tsukune rubbed the back of aching head. Looking up at the blonde he glared. "Why did you do that?"

Naruto glared back with a smirk. "Why are you flirting with girls while I'm here? That's not cool man."

"First of all… I wasn't flirting with her, second and most important of all… WE'RE NOT TOGETHER!"

"You're right. But your girlfriends made us do this so right now…WE ARE TOGETHER!"

"They aren't my girlfriends," he protested.

Naruto snorted. "Yeah sure… You keep telling yourself that Tsukune." Taking a deep breath he tightened his grip on his fork. His palms were sweating with anxiety and his heart rate was picking up. Gulping he stared at a slice of the dorian fruit in front of him. "Are you ready?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the brunette's face. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

"Alright…Lets do this!" he said with determination.

Both boys stabbed a slice of the dorian fruit on their plates and hesitantly raised it to their mouths. Taking a deep breath they shoved the food in their mouths and started to slowly chew.

"It's…not…that… bad," Naruto lied with a grimace.

With a mouthful of slimy produce he nodded his fake agreement. "Yeah…It…has a…unique taste." He barely finished through crunches.

This went on for a short while longer until they were finally able to swallow it. Groaning they leaned over the table and panted with their heads down. The taste was just so awful and it felt so repulsive going down, but at least they got it down. Well almost…

Shooting up from their seats they started hiccupping as if something was about to come forth and it was. Unfortunately their stomachs weren't strong enough to handle the repulsive food and now they were on the verge of puking. Scrambling out of their seats they raced out of the cafeteria, pushing people out the way as they had made a full sprint for the boys restroom.

"Look at blondie run!" Kurumu laughed while banging her fist on the table.

Yukari giggled. "I wonder if they'll make it."

"I doubt it," Mizore said with indifference. Currently she was reading a book to take her mind off the girl who was just flirting with her future husband.

While Naruto and Tsukune were supposed to eat alone, the others ate at their usual table and watched from afar. At first they were bored watching them just sit there but then that girl came and started talking to Tsukune the girls started to become upset. Even Moka was irritated and she normally hides her jealousy well. Now her frustration was gone and in its stead was the feeling worry.

"I didn't expect this kind of reaction," she said. As they ran out of the hallway she noticed that Tsukune's eyes had watered and Naruto's face had changed colors. "I hope they are alright."

Gaara sat with them, but had remained silent for the most part. "Don't worry about them. Once they vomit up that deplorable fruit they'll be fine."

Moka smiled, "Perhaps you're right." Her green eyes gazed up at him. "I know my other half already did this, but I liked to thank you for saving my little sister."

"Like I told her, thanks are unnecessary. Letting her die wasn't an option."

"Of course," she hummed contently while watching the student's converse as the cafeteria was quite lively. "Now that we can all trust each other maybe things will settle down."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked as he became distracted.

Moka followed his line of vision to see the three girls arguing amongst each other. Kurumu and Yukari had started off bickering about something which led to a lot of name calling. Mizore didn't want to get involved, but she was reading a romance novel and they were disrupting her concentration so she tried to intervene and she only ended up making things worse.

Now all three girls were having a shouting match, while the rest of the cafeteria's occupants ignored them. Moka's face twitched at the scene before her. Sighing she replied.

"Maybe I spoke to soon…"

To be continued…

Lol I had to add a little humor at the end.

Chapter 10 is now in the books. So how was it? Good or bad?

I know you guys noticed That Naruto and Gaara didn't exactly tell them everything but that's rational. It really wouldn't make sense if they dumped their entire lives on the Rosario cast; it's just too much for anyone to take in at once. Slowly they will inform them and over time both sides will get to know each other.

The next chapter is going to be more fun and less serious, so it should be refreshing to read something with less feels.

A little off topic, but I mentioned it last chapter, I had wrote an Attack on Titan fic not too long ago. I posted it last month, it's called Eternal Link and it's an Aruani (Armin x Annie) one shot! I like to promote this because it's far different than any other project I have ever worked on as far as writing goes. I'm planning the sequel but I'm trying to get as much feedback as possible before moving forward.

Till next time see ya! Toto out ;)